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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
