Texas has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, demanding that Border Patrol stop cutting the razor wire along the Rio Grande that was placed there by the state.
Border Patrol has claimed that the razor wire is keeping them from reaching migrants who are in dangerous situations.
The state's lawsuit claims that "in the midst of an unprecedented immigration crisis at the southern border, federal government officials are, once again, undermining Texas’s efforts to stem the flow of illegal immigration."
The complaint points to over 20 instances of the wire being cut by Border Patrol since September 20, which the state claims are illegal destruction of Texas property.
“By cutting Texas’s concertina wire, the federal government has not only illegally destroyed property owned by the State of Texas; it has also disrupted the State’s border security efforts, leaving gaps in Texas’s border barriers and damaging Texas’s ability to effectively deter illegal entry into its territory,” the lawsuit states.
It continues, "The Biden Administration’s abdication of its duty to secure the border has allowed millions of aliens to illegally cross into Texas and the United States in record numbers. According to data maintained by the federal government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection ('CBP') encountered approximately 458,000 aliens at the border in FY2020. That number swelled to over 1.7 million encounters in FY2021 and nearly 2.4 million in FY2022. And the number of 'gotaways'—aliens who are detected as making an illegal entry but neither found nor apprehended—increased by 303 percent between FY2019 and FY2022, reaching more than 600,000 in FY2022."
Texas notes that the border crisis doesn't end there, "it also includes deadly drug smuggling, human trafficking, infiltration by suspected terrorists, and other criminal drug cartel activities."
CBP has seized over 22,000 pounds of fentanyl since the start of the year — compared to 8,300 pounds over the same period last year.
"Fentanyl is potentially lethal at a two-milligram dose and is involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any other cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, or suicide," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Customs and Border Protection acting Commissioner Troy Miller and Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told the Houston Chronicle, "Border Patrol agents have a responsibility under federal law to take those who have crossed onto U.S. soil without authorization into custody for processing, as well as to act when there are conditions that put our workforce or migrants at risk."
