A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) defended video footage of a U.S. Border Patrol agent cutting open a section of razor wire for an illegal immigrant family, saying that it was a necessary action to apprehend them.
On Friday, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared a Twitter post showing the unidentified Border Patrol agent taking wire cutters to a spiraling line of razor wire and then pulling the wire aside to allow at least a dozen illegal immigrants to walk through.
In his Twitter post caption, Melugin reported that the razor wire fence was laid out on private property by the Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas DPS) with the permission of the property owner. Texas DPS officials and National Guard troops from a variety of states have been spreading razor wire and manning sections of the Texas border in an effort to physically block illegal border crossings as part of an effort known as Operation Lone Star.
“This is the first time [Texas DPS officials] know of this happening, and that it’s being looked into for potential destruction of [Texas] property,” Melugin said in his Twitter post. “The federal government’s position is that once migrants are on U.S. soil, under U.S. law, they need to be processed, and cannot be repelled or turned away. Texas is taking a much different approach, and has been physically blocking migrants under orders from [Gov. Greg Abbott.]”
In a statement shared with Melugin, a CBP spokesperson asserted the federal government maintains jurisdiction over the border and U.S. immigration laws. The CBP spokesperson further stated Border Patrol agents had to let the illegal immigrants through in order to process them according to U.S. immigration law. The group of illegal immigrants included several children and Melugin said federal border officials were concerned about getting them out of the summer heat.
“It is a federal responsibility to enforce U.S. immigration laws. U.S. Border Patrol continues to enforce U.S. immigration laws. The individuals had already crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico, were on U.S. soil, and are subject to U.S. immigration laws,” a CBP spokesperson said. “Individuals who cross unlawfully will be subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions. Those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed.”
The “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Final Rule” or “lawful pathways rule” stipulates that migrants who try to enter the U.S. at any point other than a designated point of entry face a presumption of ineligibility for entry into the United States. This presumption of ineligibility is rebuttable, but those who fail to make their case and are ordered removed are barred from reentry into the U.S. for at least five years.
Conflicting Border Enforcement Efforts
The move by Border Patrol agents to cut through Texas DPS razor wire lines could add to the friction between President Joe Biden’s administration and Republican state governors who have criticized his border policies.
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in the Spring of 2021, citing a “crisis at our southern border” exacerbated by “Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration.” Abbott has invited other Republican governors to assist with Operation Lone Star and several have deployed state police and National Guard troops to the Texas border to help block off sections of the Rio Grande, which separates Texas from Mexico.
The Operation Lone Star border control efforts ramped up as the Biden administration phased out Title 42 immigration policies and instead implemented its revised entry protocols like the “lawful pathways rule.” In May, just ahead of the end of Title 42, Texas National Guard troops were seen manning a section of razor wire fence, blocking a line of people from attempting to illegally cross the Rio Grande into the United States.
NTD News reached out to Texas DPS and Abbott’s office for comment about Border Patrol’s decision to cut through Texas DPS razor wire lines, but they did not respond by the time this article was published.