Texas National Guard places MORE barbed wire at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass β after SCOTUS rules Border Patrol can cut barrier across southern border
The Texas National Guard is doubling down on deploying razor wire across the U.S.-Mexico border after the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents could breach the barriers.
Government officials were seen installing more razor wire at the border crossing at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Tuesday β just a day after SCOTUS ruled against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, saying the federal government could remove the barriers.
The federal government claims the wire fences endanger security and hinder rescue efforts, while the state says they are trying to stem the flow of migrants.
In a 5-4 decision, the justices granted a request from President Joe Biden’s administration to pause a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked federal agents from disrupting the fencing while litigation over the issue continued.
The Biden administration is in a standoff with Texas over 30 miles of sharp concertina wire around Eagle Pass along the Rio Grande on the southern border.
Government officials were seen setting up more barbed wire barriers at the Shelby Park border crossing in Eagle Pass on Tuesday β a day after SCOTUS ruled the Border Patrol could remove it
The federal government claims the wire fences endanger security and hinder rescue efforts, while the state says it will stem the flow of migrants
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border known as high-traffic areas for migrants.
Border guards have been seen cutting the wire as they conduct rescue efforts in the border area, where three migrants have drowned in the past month.
The governor of the Lone Star State responded to the ruling during a trip to India by promising that the legal battle was far from over.
βThe Biden administration has repeatedly cut the wire Texas had installed to stop illegal crossings, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants,β Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris told DailyMail.com.
βThe absence of razor wire and other deterrent strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the jobs of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult.β
The White House applauded SCOTUS’ decision, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying she was “pleased” that border officials can now “do their job.”
Miles and several layers of wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border β a border that is 1,254 miles long
Asylum seekers walk past the fence at the U.S.-Mexico border as they wait to be processed in El Paso
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which issued the contested interim ruling, will hear arguments on Feb. 7 on whether Border Patrol agents violated Texas law by cutting the razor wire barrier.
The fencing at issue in dispute was installed by the Texas National Guard on private property along the Rio Grande River as part of what was called Operation Lone Star, launched by Governor Abbott in 2021 to deter illegal border crossings.
Texas sued the government in October 2023 over what it said was an intensified practice by Border Patrol agents to cut, destroy or otherwise damage fencing that the state had strategically placed on private property with landowners’ permission.
Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border known as high-traffic areas for migrants entering the US.
Many of these migrants are asylum seekers who try to sneak into the country unnoticed.
After crossing the border illegally, they seek out U.S. Border Patrol agents so they can surrender to them and seek asylum.
Miles and several layers of wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border β a border that is 1,254 miles long.
However, the SCOTUS ruling is based on an emergency appeal from the Biden administration following a dispute in Eagle Pass.
Under orders from Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Texas soldiers on January 10 surrounded Shelby Park with razor wire and other fencing, even though the land is owned by the City of Eagle Pass.
Abbott claimed the measure was intended to stem the historic number of illegal immigrants in Shelby Park in recent weeks.
Governor Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border known as high-traffic areas for migrants entering the US.
Border Patrol agents have been seen cutting the wire while conducting rescue efforts at the border
In the week before Christmas, more than 22,000 asylum-seeking migrants crossed the river that divides the U.S. from Mexico into Shelby Park to enter Eagle Pass, which has a population of just 28,000.
The influx strained resources and cost local taxpayers thousands of dollars a day.
However, the feud escalated after Border Patrol agents alleged that Texas National Guard troops stopped them from entering state-controlled territory to help save a migrant woman and two children from drowning.
The state claimed that the migrants had already drowned when the Border Patrol was notified.
Biden’s Justice Department filed a request with the Supreme Court late Monday to force the state to grant Border Patrol agents access.
The razor wire is part of Abbott’s border security plan, known as Operation Lone Star.
Many of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star initiatives, launched in March 2021, have been controversial and have placed the Republican governor and White House over jurisdiction.
Abbott has also placed buoys in the Rio Grande as a deterrent, but these are also embroiled in a legal battle.