Feds can’t destroy razor wire Texas installed near Eagle Pass, appeals court rules

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

A federal appeals court on Wednesday stopped the federal government from destroying a fence of razor wire that Texas installed along the U.S.-Mexico border near Eagle Pass to deter migrants from entering the country illegally.

The ruling, criticized by activists, came hours before Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum told President-elect Donald Trump that immigrants headed to the U.S. are being “taken care of” in her country.

Texas had placed more than 29 miles of wire in the Eagle Pass area by last September when Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over Border Patrol agents’ alleged illegal destruction of state property by cutting the wire.

On Wednesday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a 2-1 opinion that reversed a lower court’s ruling and granted Texas a limited preliminary injunction against the federal government.

“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 during a Wednesday evening appearance on Newsmax. “This wasn't their land. This was our land, our private property. It had nothing due to the federal government. So this is a good win for Texas, a good win for the country, that this court recognized our ability to protect our land.”

The legal dispute had not stopped Texas from installing such razor wire in Eagle Pass, where the state earlier this year took over a municipal park, Shelby Park, against the city’s wishes.

“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X about the appellate court’s ruling Wednesday evening.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amerika Garcia Grewal, an organizer with the Eagle Pass Border Coalition, criticized Wednesday’s ruling and called the wire “a tool of war, not a humane border control measure.”

“The long-term implications of this decision are dire,” Garcia said. “It sets a dangerous precedent for using excessive force and disregarding human rights. We need to move towards a more humane and effective approach to border management.”

The ruling came as tensions this week between Trump and Sheinbaum over a potential tariff war appeared to cool. Trump threatened to enact a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico when he takes office unless Mexican officials stopped drugs, particularly fentanyl, and undocumented migrants from crossing the border — though migrant apprehensions have declined this year. Sheinbaum vowed to enact retaliatory tariffs if Trump made good on his threat.

Trump and Sheinbaum spoke Wednesday, the two leaders said on social media, and discussed how to prevent migrants from reaching the U.S.-Mexico border as well as how to reduce fentanyl consumption and demand for the drug in the United States.

“I had an excellent conversation with President Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum wrote on the social media site X. “We discussed Mexico's strategy on the migration phenomenon and I shared that caravans are not arriving at the northern border because they are being taken care of in Mexico.”

Trump called the conversation “wonderful” and “productive” in a Truth Social post Wednesday.

“She has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border,” Trump said.

In a follow-up post, Trump said, “Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately. THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA. Thank you!!!”