By Maria Ortiz
Nov 28, 2024, 00:17 AM EST
A federal appeals court on Wednesday stopped the federal government from destroying a barbed wire fence that Texas installed along the US-Mexico border near Eagle Pass, to deter immigrants from entering the country illegally.
The ruling, criticized by activists, came hours before Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told President-elect Donald Trump that immigrants heading to the United States are being “taken care of” in their country.
Texas had placed more than 29 miles of barbed wire in the Eagle Pass area last September when Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over alleged illegal destruction of state property by Border Patrol agents who cut off the wire fence.
On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a 2-1 opinion that overturned a lower court’s ruling and granted Texas a limited preliminary injunction against the federal government.
“I was surprised that the federal government would go to such lengths to cut barbed wire to allow illegals to pass through when all we are trying to do is protect our own land,” Paxton said during a Wednesday night appearance on Newsmax.
“This was not their land. It was our land, our private property. He had nothing that he owed to the federal government. “So it’s a good victory for Texas, a good victory for the country, that this court has recognized our ability to protect our land,” Paxton said.
The legal dispute had not stopped Texas from installing that barbed wire in Eagle Pass, where earlier this year the state took over a municipal park, Shelby Park, against the city’s wishes.
“We continue to add more barbed wire border barriers,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in X about the appeals court ruling Wednesday night.
The case is one of several immigration-related court battles taking place between Texas and the Biden administration and that could prompt a change in the Justice Department’s stance once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Trump’s team has indicated it wants to collaborate with Texas on its border efforts as part of the incoming administration’s plans for a larger crackdown on immigration.
With information from Texas Tribune and CNN
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