Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday that he has filed an appeal of a judge’s decision that the federal government would not be barred from cutting concertina wire along the Texas border.
The ruling from District Judge Alia Moses on Wednesday nullifies the temporary emergency restraining order previously ordered by a federal judge to prevent the federal government from cutting the wire.
“Texas had requested that the court preliminarily enjoin the federal government from cutting, destroying, damaging, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s concertina wire fence until the court can hold a final trial,” the release explained. However, the ruling from Judge Moses allows federal agents to resume undermining this barrier.
Judge Moses explained her decision, stating that Texas had not proven that orders to cut the wire were an official “agency action” that would be reviewable under federal law.
Despite ruling against Texas, Moses wrote in her opinion memorandum that the evidence presented by the defendants, which claims that the wire prevents Border Patrol from carrying out their duties, “amply demonstrates the utter failure of the Defendants to deter, prevent, and halt unlawful entry into the United States.”
“The Defendants cannot claim the statutory duties they are so obviously derelict in enforcing as excuses to puncture the Plaintiff’s attempts to shore up the Defendants’ failing system. Nor may they seek judicial blessing of practices that both directly contravene those same statutory obligations and require the destruction of the Plaintiff’s property,” added Moses.
“Any justifications resting on the Defendants’ illusory and life-threatening ‘inspection’ and ‘apprehension’ practices, or lack thereof, fail.”
In response to the ruling, Paxton announced in a news release sent to The Dallas Express that his office has filed an appeal with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Office of the Attorney General, along with co-counsel from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, will “continue defending Texans from the dangerous consequences of the Biden administration’s policy of tearing down deterrents to illegal immigration,” the release assured.
Paxton filed the initial lawsuit and motion for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and multiple agencies in October.
The filing came in response to reports that federal agents were cutting wire along the border that was meant to deter unlawful migration, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Texas’ complaint alleged that “[s]ince September 20, 2023, federal agents have developed and implemented a policy, pattern, or practice of destroying Texas’s concertina wire to encourage and assist thousands of aliens to cross the Rio Grande and enter Texas illegally.
“Federal agents not only cut Texas’s concertina wire but also attach ropes or cables from the back of pickup trucks to ease aliens’ ability to illegally climb up the riverbank into Texas. And they regularly cut new openings in the wire fence, sometimes immediately after Texas officers have placed new wire to plug up gaps in fencing barriers,” it read.
After filing the lawsuit, Paxton emphasized in a news release that “Texas has the sovereign right to construct border barriers to prevent the entry of illegal aliens.”
“Americans across the country were horrified to watch Biden’s open-border policy in action: agents were physically cutting wires and assisting the aliens’ entry into our state. This is illegal,” he added.
“It puts our country and our citizens at risk. The courts must put a stop to it, or Biden’s free-for-all will make this crushing immigration crisis even worse.”
However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Patrol Chief Jason Owens told reporters in September that the agency has the right to remove or alter barriers in order to safely take unlawful migrants into custody, as reported by Reuters.
“If they start getting swept away by the currents, if they start succumbing to the environment, the extreme temperatures, the humidity you all feel right now, and my men and women see that, they are not going to let somebody die or get into harm’s way,” Owens said.
