DEL RIO, Texas (CN) — The state of Texas secured a short-term win against the Department of Homeland Security on Monday after a federal judge temporarily blocked Border Patrol officials from cutting razor wire along the state’s shared border with Mexico.
In its lawsuit, filed on Oct. 24, Texas argues officials with the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol have adopted a procedure of “destroying” razor wire barriers erected under Governor Greg Abbott’s $9 billion border security initiative, Operation Lone Star.
U.S. District Court Judge Alia Moses wrote in her 11-page restraining order, that the state’s trespass to chattels claim is “likely to succeed.” The George W. Bush appointee wrote that the state has established that federal officials have damaged concertina wire barriers erected by the state.
Moses also found that the state was being irreparably harmed through the destruction of its property and the inability to recover the costs of such damage due to the federal government’s sovereign immunity.
While the order sides with the arguments made by the state, Moses made a key exception to the order, allowing federal officials to cut the wire if attempting to render aid to someone in a medical emergency.
The judge’s order will expire on Nov. 13 unless extended. But before then, Moses will hear arguments on Nov. 7 on whether she should issue a preliminary injunction in the case, further blocking Homeland Security and Border Patrol from interfering with the state’s property.
Monday’s order comes just days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the state’s motion for a restraining order was filed. In a statement, Paxton said that after the state filed its case against the government, federal officials “escalated” efforts to cut the wire barrier.
Paxton has placed the blame for the ongoing migrant crisis on President Joe Biden, saying he has shown “disturbing contempt for the state of Texas, for the citizens of the United States, and for our country’s entire foundation of the rule of law.”
Since March 2021, officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department have been stationed along the international border in an attempt to deter and control unlawful migrant crossings into the state. Through Operation Lone Star, hundreds of miles of concertina wire have been deployed along with shipping containers and permanent fencing to stop migrants from gaining access to the state.
The case Judge Moses has taken on is not the first federal dispute over Texas’ use of border barriers. This year, the Biden administration sued the state to have a 1,000-foot floating barrier removed from the waters of the Rio Grande. When a federal judge in Austin ordered its removal, the state appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the barrier’s fate now rests.
In that case, the Biden administration argues that the buoy barrier violates the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 because the state did not get a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers before placing it. The state has argued that it needed no such permit to justify its action.
As Operation Lone Star continues, so too is the likelihood of future litigation. The Texas Legislature is currently embroiled in a special legislative session, called by Abbott, to pass legislation aimed at curbing illegal immigration. The proposals include diverting more funding for border barrier infrastructure and increasing criminal penalties for human smuggling.
So far this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection have reported over 2.4 million encounters with migrants on the Southern Border.
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