A federal judge on Monday temporarily barred the Biden administration and Border Patrol agents from removing the razor wire Texas state officials have set up to hinder the entry of migrants along the border with Mexico, with limited exceptions, such as medical emergencies.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Alia Moses blocked federal officials from removing, scrapping, disassembling or encumbering concertina wire that Texas state authorities assembled near the border town of Eagle Pass to impede the passage of migrants entering the country illegally. Moses said federal officials could only remove the wire to “provide or obtain emergency medical aid.”
The order is an early legal victory for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas officials in their latest lawsuit against the Biden administration, which has found itself defending most of its major immigration policies from lawsuits filed by officials in the Lone Star state and other GOP-led states. The ruling, however, will not be the final say on the matter.
So why do they get to keep the razorwire buoys in place?