Texas officials are vowing to maintain strict border security measures after the Supreme Court ruled border patrol officials could cut razor wire designed to deter illegal crossings – a move applauded by the Biden administration.
Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the state, under Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, “will maintain its current posture in deterring illegal border crossings by utilizing effective border security measures.”
This includes, Olivarez said, reinforced concertina wire and anti-climb barriers along the Rio Grande.
Olivarez’s tweet comes a day after a 5-4 vote from the Supreme Court, clearing the way for Border Patrol agents to cut or clear out concertina wire that Texas has put along the banks of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from entering the U.S. illegally while the Fifth Circuit still has yet to rule on the case’s merits.
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The Biden administration argued that the nearly 30 miles of wire, installed near Eagle Pass, had “prevented frontline personnel from performing vital federal functions and interfered with their ability to address urgent situations and enforce our laws.”
It dismissed the razor as “political stunts” that make it harder for frontline personnel to do their jobs.
Olivarez said the logical concern “should be why the Federal Government continues to hinder Texas’ ability to protect its border, all while allowing for the exploitation, dangerous, and inhumane methods of permitting illegal immigrants, including children, to illegally cross a dangerous river where many have lost their lives.”
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“Texas is the only state using every strategy and resource to protect its sovereignty, combat criminal activity, and discourage illegal immigration,” he said.
Olivarez’s tweet got an endorsement from Gov. Abbott, who highlighted the message.
Earlier Tuesday, Gov. Abbott vowed that Texas “will not back down from our efforts to secure the border in Biden’s absence.”
The Republican governor had authorized the wire, one of a series of aggressive measures the three-term Republican has taken on the border in the name of curbing illegal crossings from Mexico.
The concertina wire stretches for roughly 30 miles near the border city of Eagle Pass, where earlier this month the Texas Military Department seized control of a city-owned park and began denying access to Border Patrol agents.
Eagle Park has become one of the busiest spots on the southern U.S. border for migrants illegally crossing from Mexico. Abbott has said Texas won’t allow Border Patrol agents into Shelby Park anymore, having expressed frustration over what he says are migrants illegally entering through Eagle Pass and then federal agents loading them onto buses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
