The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the federal government from removing razor wire barriers placed at the border by Texas authorities. The court ruled that the government cannot “damage, destroy, or otherwise interfere” with the concertina wire (razor wire) fence erected in the Eagle Pass area. The exception is a medical emergency.

Texas sued the Biden administration in October when Border Patrol agents began cutting or damaging the 29 miles of razor wire along the border to allow illegal immigrants to enter deeper into the state, and then the U.S. In other words, the state is trying to prevent the federal government from destroying state 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,” Texas said.

Texas installed the razor wire as part of Operation Lone Star, a border security initiative, to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. The federal government argues that once illegal immigrants are on U.S. soil, Border Patrol agents are required to apprehend them. The razor wire, the government argues, “inhibits Border Patrol’s ability to patrol the border.” As with other border security measures implemented by Governor Abbott, the razor wire question has been round and round.

A federal judge had initially blocked agents from cutting razor wire, but later reversed that decision, saying the state hadn’t met the requirements to issue a wider injunction.

Texas appealed and on Tuesday the Fifth Circuit Court found in Texas’ favor, meaning that for now the wire cannot be damaged or removed.

There is irony in the fact that this ruling comes now when Texas is under siege by a record amount of illegal immigrants. The federal government has tried to stop the governor from trying to secure the border with Mexico at every turn. The Biden administration wants an open border. Cutting razor wire and destroying state property to allow illegal immigrants the ability to travel further into Texas is fine with them.

The ruling was 19 pages long and it focused on whether or not the state has the right to sue the federal government. The judges said that in this case, it does. The ruling said that the razor wire fence may help law enforcement.

The ruling also suggested that, rather than impeding federal law enforcement, Texas’ actions supplement it. There is “substantial public interest in having governmental agencies abide by the federal laws that govern their existence and operations,” the court wrote, citing an earlier case.

Texas and federal authorities agree that the concertina wire must be cut in case of emergency – to save a migrant from drowning, for instance, or when officers witness an assault on the far side.

“We’re doing it to go rescue somebody,” Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steve McCraw recently 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.”

So, here we are. Another day, another legal ruling as Governor Abbott fights the federal government to be able to secure the state’s border with Mexico. Abbott is doing Biden’s job. He should be thanked, not sued.