Texas maintains barbed wire border despite court ruling

Eagle Pass, Texas (CNN) — As the migrant crisis continues along the US-Mexico border and beyond, tensions are high between Texas and federal officials.

These are recent events.

Barbed wire remains on a disputed stretch of the US-Mexico border a day after the US Supreme Court voted to allow federal Border Patrol agents to remove a barrier erected there as part of the Texas Republican governor’s security initiative, while the state’s legal challenge continues.

A CNN crew in Eagle Pass, Texas, which has recently become the epicenter of the migrant crisis and near where three migrants drowned this month, saw barbed wire on Tuesday morning. The high court on Monday ruled 5-4 in a victory for President Joe Biden in an ongoing dispute with Texas over whether the Border Patrol has the legal authority to cut barbed wire that Texas has installed along the Rio Grande.

The state sued last year to stop the wire cutting, alleging that it illegally destroys state property and undermines security to help migrants cross the border. In December, a federal appeals court ordered Border Patrol agents to end the practice while a judicial process unfolded, and this month the Justice Department filed an emergency request, asking the Supreme Court to overturn the practice.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his Department of Public Safety reaffirmed the state’s use of barriers this Monday.

“This is not over”, Abbott wrote in X on Monday. “Texas’ barbed wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal crossings that Biden encourages. I will continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden administration from destroying our property.”

Texas will “maintain its current posture in preventing illegal border crossings by using effective border security measures,” Wrote on Monday “Texas is the only state using all strategies and resources to protect its sovereignty, fight criminal activity and discourage illegal immigration,” said Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez on the platform.

Texas authorities last week detained the immigrants in Shelby Park in Eagle Pass and charged them with trespassing, marking the first immigrant arrests since the state took control of the area along the US border. and Mexico this month, according to an official. A new state law makes it a crime to enter the state illegally.

According to a letter from the Department of Homeland Security obtained exclusively by CNN, the Biden administration informed state authorities that they have until January 17 to block Border Patrol access to a 3.2 kilometer stretch of the US-Mexico border in which Eagle Pass or the US Department of Justice will intervene.

— Devon Cole contributed to this report.