United States District Judge Alia Moses reversed her Temporary Restraining Order that prevented the Department of Homeland Security from cutting border barriers erected by the Texas state government.
The new order that was issued on November 30, 2023 overturns that position after the judge was able to hear additional evidence. The case will currently head to a trial on the merits.
Recently, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Public Policy Foundation jointly filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, the US Border Patrol, and several Biden regime appointees to halt the federal government’s attempts to interfere with the Texas state government’s campaign to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the border.
US District Judge Alia Moses subsequently issued a Temporary Restraining Order ordering the federal government to stop “disassembling, degrading, tampering with, or transforming” border barriers erected by the Texas government under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star program designed to fight illegal alien border crossers. The judge granted a small exception where the federal government can still “take immediate action to obtain medical attention” for migrants under distress or who have been injured.
On November 7, the judge heard further testimony from the plaintiff and the defense concerning the actions Border Patrol agents and other federal functions have taken to slash the concertina wire and let migrants enter Texas by crossing its border with Mexico..
On November 30, Judge Moses issued a new order reversing the TRO and ordering the case to go forward to a trial on the law’s merits.
“Here, based on the evidence presented at the November 7, 2023 hearing and the documents submitted thereafter, the Court finds that there is insufficient evidence at this juncture to support a substantial likelihood of success” on the Plaintiff’s claims, Judge Moses wrote in her decision. She continued, “The possible harm suffered by the Plaintiff in the form of loss of control and use of its private property continues to satisfy the irreparable harm prong of preliminary-injunction analysis. The public interest calculation reflected in the Court’s TRO decision stands.”
It’s a sad day when state governments have to pick up the slack for a derelict federal government that has ignored immigration enforcement. Obviously, red states should begin taking immigration enforcement into their own hands. However, as the Texas state government’s current ordeal with the feds show, red states must be ready for prolonged legal battles just for the simple act of trying to defend the border.