EAGLE PASS, Texas — More than a year after Texas soldiers fenced off and locked out Border Patrol agents from accessing the United States-Mexico border as thousands of illegal immigrants surged across, state authorities have unchained the gate and reopened the door to their federal partners, the Washington Examiner has learned.

The return of President Donald Trump triggered the ending to the David and Goliath-style standoff between Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and the Biden administration that led to a tense yearlong stalemate between Texas soldiers and border patrol agents at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass.