Court Blocks Biden’s Plan to Remove Texas Border Razor Wire

In overturning a judge’s earlier ruling, the 5th Circuit says the administration’s thwarting of the state’s efforts to secure the border may violate the law.

Illegal immigrants walk between concertina wire fencing and a string of buoys placed on the water along the Rio Grande border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 16, 2023. Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images

An appeals court on Dec. 19 temporarily blocked the Biden administration from dismantling razor wire fencing installed by Texas along the U.S.–Mexico border to deter illegal border crossings.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, disagreed with a lower court judge’s ruling that the U.S. government was immune from a lawsuit filed by Texas.