AUSTIN — Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have repeatedly cut razor wire fencing the state has installed at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to DPS Director Col. Steve McCraw.
After federal border agents cut the fencing along the Rio Grande, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration, accusing the federal government of illegally destroying state property.
McCraw confirmed this week that state troopers have cut the razor wire when they see migrants’ lives are at risk or when they observe a crime being committed on the other side of the wire and need to apprehend the suspects.
McCraw, however, said what DPS does is different from what Customs and Border Protection agents do when they cut or damage the state-owned wiring. McCraw accused the federal agents of removing the concertina wire to allow migrants to enter.
“We’re doing it to go rescue somebody — a person at that point in time,” McCraw told The Dallas Morning News. “We’re not doing it to allow a large number of migrants to enter between the ports of entry. We want them to go to the ports of entry.”
Temporary restraining order
On Monday, a federal judge temporarily barred border patrol agents from destroying, damaging or removing the razor-wire fence. U.S. District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas granted Paxton’s request for a temporary restraining order.
The judge granted an exception allowing agents to cut through the wiring for any medical emergency “that most likely results in serious bodily injury or death to a person,” she wrote in the 11-page motion.
The temporary order expires Nov. 13 unless the court chooses to extend it. Moses also set a hearing for Paxton’s request for a temporary injunction for Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. in the federal courtroom in Del Rio.
Republican politicians and anti-immigration activists hailed Moses’ ruling, saying President Joe Biden has failed to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kristin Etter, a defense attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid who represents migrants, argued what state troopers do is no different from what border patrol agents do. She noted that Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott have decried the federal agents’ cutting of the concertina wire as illegal and a destruction of state property.
“Law enforcement officers, including Texas DPS and National Guard members, routinely cut concertina wire to allow migrants to pass through,” Etter said in an interview. “That is because the alternative to doing that is to watch people, including many women and children, die a slow death.”
McCraw said he was not able to provide a number for how many times state troopers have cut or damaged the razor wire. DPS has publicly said that its officers will rescue migrants who are at risk of injury or death.
The News watched body-cam footage taken by a DPS trooper this summer. It shows a trooper cutting the razor wiring with a pair of bolt cutters as a group of about a dozen migrants stand behind the wiring. After the wire is cut, the migrants cross into the state and the men are taken into state custody, the video shows.
A source allowed a reporter to view the more than 5-minute video.
Spokespeople for Abbott did not respond to an email asking whether the governor believes it is illegal for state troopers to destroy the wiring. Spokespeople for Paxton did not respond to a similar question. Spokespeople for Customs and Border Protection did not respond to emailed questions.
Luis Miranda, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Customs and Border Protection, said the agency does not comment on ongoing litigation.
“Generally speaking, 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,” Miranda said in an email.
Migrant surge
What border patrol agents do to Texas’ razor wire drew more attention in September, as a surge of migrants crossed the border in Eagle Pass without proper authorization. The influx led to a chaotic response from local, state and national officials.
That month, video clips of border patrol agents cutting the razor wiring to let migrants into Texas gained attention. Abbott said at the time that Texas would not back down and would replace the wiring that had been destroyed.
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens told reporters his agents were not going to let migrants drown.
“If they start getting swept away by the currents, if they start succumbing to the environment, the extreme temperatures, the humidity you all feel right now, and my men and women see that, they are not going to let somebody die or get into harm’s way,” Owens said, according to a Sept. 29 story from Reuters.
Texas installed the razor wire as part of Operation Lone Star, the multibillion dollar border security effort launched by Abbott. Operation Lone Star, Texas’ effort to deter illegal immigration, drew international outrage after an internal email from a trooper said they had been ordered to push migrants back into the Rio Grande. The Houston Chronicle first reported the existence of the email.
Nicholas Wingate, who identified himself as a trooper and medic for DPS, said he came across a 19-year-old pregnant woman caught in the razor wire in Eagle Pass. The woman was going through a miscarriage.
“We cut her out of the wire and medically assessed her,” Wingate wrote in the email on July 3.
More than a week later, Victor Escalon, DPS’ regional director for the South Texas region, sent an email with instructions for how troopers should handle the razor wire, which has injured multiple migrants.
“As we enforce State law, we may need to open the wire to aid individuals in medical distress, maintain the peace, and/or to make an arrest for criminal trespass, criminal mischief, acts of violence, or other State crimes,” Escalon wrote on July 15.
