Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, has initiated legal action against the Biden administration for removing razor wire barriers that were designed to fortify the Texas-U.S. border against unauthorized entry. The suit marks yet another episode in the state’s prolonged battle with the federal government over border security.
The legal filing submitted this Tuesday targets the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It describes multiple instances where federal agents have dismantled wire barriers, effectively assisting unauthorized immigrants in their efforts to enter the U.S.
According to the filing, “Federal operatives have previously severed Texas’s spiraled wire barriers situated at key border entry points.” The document goes on to say, “As Eagle Pass faced a considerable influx of unauthorized immigrants during September and October of 2023, CBP agents escalated this federal tendency of severing, destroying, or otherwise impairing Texas’s spiraled wire.”
The lawsuit also claims that federal agents did more than just cut the wire barriers. They allegedly attached ropes or cables to pickup trucks to facilitate unauthorized immigrants’ efforts to scale the riverbank into Texas.
Additionally, the filing highlights how Texas has placed the razor wire “in a calculated manner” at high-traffic entry points, even obtaining consent from property owners for its installation. Despite such steps, the federal authorities have reportedly been counteracting these efforts.
Earlier in September, Governor Greg Abbott revealed a video showing federal operatives severing spiraled wire at a busy crossing point in Eagle Pass, Texas. During a two-week span, authorities reported witnessing approximately 14,000 unauthorized immigrants crossing into Texas daily, nearly half of the Eagle Pass community, according to the lawsuit.
The border dispute with federal authorities is not a new one for Texas. In a separate incident in September, a federal court mandated the removal of a 1,000-foot floating barrier that Governor Abbott had set up along parts of the Rio Grande River. However, a federal appeals court overturned that decision within a day, allowing Texas to maintain the barrier.
The lawsuit also sheds light on the rising numbers of unauthorized immigrants entering the U.S. since Biden took office. According to CBP statistics, the agency had about 458,000 encounters at the border in fiscal year 2020. This number surged to nearly 1.7 million in 2021 and almost 2.4 million in 2022.
Moreover, the filing highlights a significant rise in the number of “gotaways,” or those who manage to enter the U.S. without being detected. This figure has increased by 303% from fiscal year 2019 to 2022, exceeding 600,000 in the most recent fiscal year.
