Appeals court temporarily stops feds from cutting Texas’ border razor wire

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday granted a temporary administrative stay in response to Texas’ request to stop U.S. Border Patrol and other federal border agents from cutting and removing the state’s border barriers along the Rio Grande.

The three judges ruled unanimously, and the federal government has until Friday evening to appeal, according to the order.

In response to Monday’s administrative order, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “This is an important step supporting Texas’s right to protect our citizens from Biden’s doctrine of open borders at any cost.” 

“I am pleased the court recognized the extent of the federal government’s blatant and disturbing efforts to subvert law and order at our state’s border with Mexico,” Paxton said in a statement.

In late October, Texas filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and was granted a temporary restraining order to stop the federal government from cutting and removing the state’s concertina wire put along the border in places like Eagle Pass and El Paso. But federal officials apparently amped up their removal efforts, adding a forklift to dismantle the state’s border fence, according to Paxton.

Last month, a federal judge allowed the federal government to continue cutting the concertina wire, and Paxton appealed that ruling, leading to Monday’s temporary administrative stay while the case is working its way through the courts.

The courts have said that U.S. Border Patrol agents can cut the concertina wire if they need to reach a migrant who is in medical distress.

The same court that on Friday ruled against Texas in another lawsuit in which the federal government is trying to get the state to remove a 1,000-foot-long border buoy string put in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.