Texas Gov. Abbott continues laying razor wire around migrant-engulfed border city despite recent Supreme Court ruling
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has continued to install razor wire around a migrant-engulfed border city despite a US Supreme Court ruling this week that granted federal agents access to the area.
“Texas’ razor wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal border crossings encouraged by Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott defiantly wrote on X Wednesday.
“We continue to deploy this razor wire to repel illegal immigration.”
Texas officials cordoned off Shelby Park in Eagle Pass earlier this month and stationed state National Guard units at the site to block anyone, including Border Patrol agents who hadn’t been granted prior approval, from entering.
Abbott argued that the parcel had been used as a gathering place for migrants entering the US by crossing the nearby Rio Grande river.
Denying access to the area, he said, discouraged illegal entries into Eagle Pass, Texas.
The Department of Homeland Security is fighting to regain access to the stretch, contending its personnel are unable to reach migrants in need of emergency care.
In a 5-4 decision this week, the Supreme Court ruled that US Border Patrol agents can cut through the concertina wire to access the site if needed.
But Abbott has since doubled down on his gambit, erecting additional razor wire in the area since the ruling.
NewsNation correspondent Jorge Ventura posted footage of state troops setting up new coils of barbed wire in the contested area late Tuesday.
Ventura also noted that he had not seen any attempts by the Border Patrol to cut through the fencing.
He posted footage to X of several migrants who had crossed the Rio Grande who were unable to proceed into Texas because of the barrier.
Abbott has been warring with the Biden administration for months over what he has deemed lax enforcement of immigration law.
Federal inaction, Abbott has argued, allows illegal immigration to soar and overwhelm Lone Star State border towns.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department threatened to sue Texas if it allowed state authorities to arrest and prosecute illegal immigrants through a law slated to take effect in March.
The Department of Justice has also filed suit against the state over its construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande. An appeals court recently ruled that the barrier can stay in the river, which serves as the borderline between the US and Mexico.
Asserting that other states should absorb illegal migrants in addition to border states like Texas and California, Abbott has bused nearly 100,000 migrants to sanctuary cities, including New York and Chicago. However, his efforts remain a drop in the ocean of the total number of people entering the US both legally and illegally, looking for better lives.
Customs and Border Protection officials have yet to release the number of migrant encounters at the border in December, but sources have told several outlets it will set a new records for total crossings.
Federal data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University showed over 250,000 Notices to Appear (NTAs) were issued in December — the highest figure since the organization began keeping track in 2001.
NTAs — which represent pending asylum cases — totaled 264,542 last month alone.
With a staggering backlog of over 3 million, those asylum cases can often take years to even reach an initial hearing.
