Judge won’t bar Biden administration from cutting down Texas razor wire on border

A U.S. judge rejected a Texas bid to block federal authorities from attempting to cut down razor wire fencing that state agencies put along the border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings.

U.S. District Judge Alia Moses denied the state’s motion to block federal officials from cutting the fencing Thursday, after previously granting a temporary restraining order that prohibited the federal government from tampering with the concertina wire that is placed along the border in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Environmental and migrant advocates have raised concerns over the wire, following reports of migrants being injured while trying to cross the Rio Grande River.

Texas filed a lawsuit in October that alleged federal officials were destroying state property by cutting the wire and were undermining the state’s efforts to ensure security.

Moses previously ruled that Texas is “likely to succeed” on its argument that federal agents are violating its common law “trespass to chattels,” as the state established it owns the concertina wire and that the defendants damaged the wire without permission to do so. And she agreed with the state’s argument the wire deters unlawful activity, including illegal entry, drug smuggling and human trafficking.

But she also noted in the initial ruling the competing public interest in allowing border patrol agents to address medical emergencies.

In Thursday’s ruling, Moses wrote that while the resolution went in favor of the federal government, “it does not excuse their culpable and duplicitous conduct.”

Moses added the border presents a challenge that is “equal parts puzzling to outsiders and frustrating to locals,” and called the immigration system is “dysfunctional” and “flawed.”

Moses agreed with the federal government that the wire creates a barrier between crossing migrants and law enforcement, and it must be cut in the event of an emergency, “such as drowning or heat exhaustion.”

Still, she argued that the problem with Border Patrol’s actions arises when “agents cut the wire without prior notification to the Plaintiff for reasons other than emergencies.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday he would be appealing the decision.

“I am disappointed that the federal government’s blatant and disturbing efforts to subvert law and order at our State’s border with Mexico will be allowed to continue,” Paxton said in a statement. “Biden’s doctrine of open borders at any borders at any cost threatens the safety of our citizens, and we will continue to fight it every step of the way.”

Texas has clashed with the federal government many times over the past year as the state seeks to curb illegal immigration. In July, the Department of Justice sued Texas to try to force Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to remove buoys that block migrants from crossing the river.

This story was updated at 4:25 p.m.