AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a federal appeals court to expedite the ongoing case over the state’s use of razor wire at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

What You Need To Know

  • The case started back in October 2023 when Paxton sued the federal government seeking to stop Border Patrol agents from cutting the roughly 30 miles of concertina wire placed along the banks of the Rio Grande

  • The latest update in the case came from the Supreme Court back in late January, when the court granted an emergency appeal by the Biden administration allowing Border Patrol agents to cut the wire while the case goes through the court system

  • Now, Paxton is urging the court to “resolve the case on an expedited basis in order to protect Texas’s border security measures,” according to a news release from his office

  • Paxton alleges that the federal government made “misleading claims” during arguments at the Supreme Court about recent events that occurred at the border

The case started back in October 2023 when Paxton sued the federal government seeking to stop Border Patrol agents from cutting the roughly 30 miles of concertina wire placed along the banks of the Rio Grande. 

The latest update in the case came from the Supreme Court back in late January, when the court granted an emergency appeal by the Biden administration allowing Border Patrol agents to cut the wire while the case goes through the court system.

In the aftermath of that ruling, multiple Texas officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, said Texas National Guard troops will continue to install the concertina wire for the foreseeable future. 

Oral argument for the case in front of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was originally scheduled for early February, but it was delayed.

Now, Paxton is urging the court to “resolve the case on an expedited basis in order to protect Texas’s border security measures,” according to a news release from his office. 

Paxton alleges that the federal government made “misleading claims” during arguments at the Supreme Court about recent events that occurred at the border. 

Specifically, Paxton mentions the three migrant drowning deaths that occurred on Jan. 12 in the Rio Grande near Shelby Park, which has been the center of Texas’ border operations. 

At the time of the deaths, the Department of Homeland Security told The Associated Press that Border Patrol agents were “physically barred” from entering Shelby Park to aid in the search for the migrants. The Texas Military Department said in a statement that they searched the river after Border Patrol alerted them to the situation, but they did not find the three migrants. 

Paxton says that news outlets amplified false claims that blamed Texas for the deaths of the three migrants and said in the release “that narrative has been completely disproven.”

In his letter to the court, Paxton makes the argument that federal agents can still do their daily tasks “without destroying Texas’s property.”