In his fight against the Biden administration’s border policy, Greg Abbott won a key victory

Washington: Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has won a significant battle against the border policy of the Biden administration. The Biden administration was barred by a federal appeals court from taking down the razor wire that Texas authorities had erected along the border between the United States and Mexico.

In a 2-1 decision on Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration’s argument that sovereign immunity precluded a Texas Republican lawsuit alleging encroachment by the federal government. The ruling prohibits federal border patrol officers from taking down Eagle Pass’s barrier unless there is an emergency.

A protracted disagreement between Abbott and the Biden administration over immigration policy has revolved around Eagle Pass.

On X, previously Twitter, Abbott said after the decision that Texas will “continue adding more razor wire border barriers.”

“The federal court of appeals just ruled that Texas has the right to build the razor wire border wall that we have constructed to deny illegal entry into our state and that Biden was wrong to cut our razor wire,” the senator wrote. “We continue adding more razor wire border barriers.”

The purpose of the wire is to make it far more difficult for someone to climb the border and enter the United States. The barriers’ smooth surfaces, acute angles, and increased height efficiently deter climbing attempts, while the sharp wire may harm some migrants.

The majority ruling on Wednesday was written by Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, who was chosen by President-elect Donald Trump. Duncan said that Texas was not trying to “regulate” the U.S. Border Patrol but was just trying to safeguard its property. Duncan said that Texas’ trespass allegations were likely to be successful.

The decisions said that “Texas’s move into the park, it turned out, had only a marginal effect on Border Patrol’s access and had nothing to do with the drownings.”

Judge Don Willett, who was also chosen by President Trump, and Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, dissented from the majority judgment written by Duncan.

“Huge win for Texas,” wrote Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general for the state, across X.

“It was shocking to me that the federal government would go out of their way to cut razor wire to allow illegals to cross when we’re just trying to protect our own land,” Paxton said on Newsmax. “This was not their territory. This was our own property, our land. The federal government has nothing to do with it. Therefore, the fact that this court acknowledged our capacity to defend our territory is a positive development for Texas and the nation as a whole.

The decision is the most recent step in Abbott and Biden’s legal dispute over deterrents that are used to stop migration. The governor has voiced his worries about what he sees as an insufficient government response to the surge in migrant crossings.

Abbott originally launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 to prevent illegal immigration to the United States, which sparked the disagreement. “The safety and security of Texans is our top priority,” Abbott said in a statement at the time. “By installing these anti-climb barriers, we are taking a significant step toward reducing illegal crossings and protecting our communities.”

Texas was sued by the Biden administration in June 2023 for allegedly failing to get permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the buoy barrier.

The Biden administration maintains that Texas’ use of buoys has violated the federal Rivers and Harbors Act, despite a July ruling by a federal appeals court that allowed floating obstacles to stay in the Rio Grande.

The Justice Department has claimed that the barrier makes it more difficult for the U.S. government to patrol the border, including helping migrants in need. Meanwhile, human rights organizations and immigration advocates have denounced Texas for erecting razor wire to keep people from applying for asylum, calling the action “draconian.”

After Border Patrol personnel cut razor wire in Eagle Pass in September, Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court decided in an emergency appeal in January that border patrol officers had the authority to take down razor wire that Texas authorities had erected along the border. A lower court’s judgment compelling law enforcement to cease cutting cable at Eagle Pass was momentarily halted by the 5-4 decision.

Democratic state senator Royce West told media that “we all know that the flow of migrants into the U.S. through Texas and other states is a problem that has lasted through both Democrat and Republican administrations and will require comprehensive immigration reform to be approved by Congress.” West was speaking about the state’s immigration issue.

The Democrats are running out of time to prevent razor wire from being installed along Texas’ border with Mexico, as Trump is scheduled to take office in January.

The president-elect Trump promised to implement the greatest domestic deportation in American history, making immigration a key campaign topic. Although he made similar claims during his 2016 presidential campaign, deportations never exceeded 350,000 throughout his term. In contrast, in 2013, then-President Barack Obama deported 432,000 people, the most in a single year since statistics have been kept.

In addition, Trump has threatened to employ the National Guard to apprehend migrants and utilize the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 legislation that gives the president the authority to expel any foreign national from a nation with which the United States is at war.

He has also named Tom Homan, the former Trump administration’s acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as border czar and charged him with reducing illegal immigration.

Ahead of the incoming Trump administration, Homan has advised illegal immigrants to “self-deport” from the United States. “Criminals and gang members get no grace period,” Homan said last month on Fox News. “While we’re out prioritizing the public safety threats and national security threats, if you wanna self-deport, you should self-deport because, again, we know who you are, and we’re going to come and find you.”

Homan said that “families could be deported together” under Trump’s mass deportation proposal in an interview with CBS News last month. He said that it will target the administration’s deportation efforts.

“There won’t be a large-scale neighborhood sweep. It will not include the construction of concentration camps. I’ve read everything. “That’s absurd,” Homan told CBS.

He was in charge of a record number of children in U.S. care during the first Trump administration. Project 2025, the conservative program from which Trump disassociated himself throughout the campaign, also benefited from Homan’s contributions.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border have decreased by 40% since reaching an all-time high in December.