NEW ORLEANS – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Border Patrol agents cannot cut barbed wire that Texas has erected at the U.S.-Mexico border in the town of Eagle Pass, which has become the center of the state’s aggressive measures to combat the to curb border crossings of migrants.
The decision by the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for Texas in a longstanding rift over immigration policy with the Biden administration, which has also sought to remove floating barriers on the Rio Grande.
Texas has continued to install razor wire along its roughly 1,200-mile border with Mexico over the past year. In a 2-1 ruling, the court issued an order prohibiting Border Patrol agents from damaging the wire in Eagle Pass.
“We continue to add more barbed wire border barriers,” Republican Governor Greg Abbott said on social platform X in response to the ruling.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Some migrants have been injured by the sharp wire, and the Justice Department has argued that the barrier hinders the U.S. government’s ability to patrol the border, including coming to the aid of migrants in need of assistance. Texas alleged in the lawsuit filed last year that the federal government “undermined” the state’s border security efforts by cutting the razor wire.
The ruling comes before newly elected President Donald Trump returns to office and promises a crackdown on immigration. Earlier this month, a Texas official offered a parcel of farmland along the U.S.-Mexico border to be used as a staging area for possible mass deportations.
Arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border are down 40% from an all-time high in December. U.S. officials especially praise Mexican vigilance around rail yards and highway checkpoints
