McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) -- A day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government can cut down concertina wire that the State of Texas put along the Rio Grande, the sharp wire is still up and it's uncertain whether Border Patrol will take it down piece by piece, or not at all.
On Monday, the Supreme Court vacated a 5th Circuit ruling, allowing Border Patrol to access and cut the wire for agents to perform their duties of patrolling the banks of the international river and apprehending those who cross illegally from Mexico.
But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says the Lone Star state will hold firm and vowed that Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers -- who guard the border under the state's Operation Lone Star security initiative -- will continue to do so using tactics deemed appropriate to keeping out those who try to illegally enter the state.
"This is not over. Texas' razor wire is an effective deterrent to the illegal crossings Biden encourages. I will continue to defend Texas' constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden Admin from destroying our property," Abbott tweeted on X, formerly Twitter, after Monday's ruling.
"Texas will continue to hold the line," Texas DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez tweeted. "Operation Lone Star, will maintain its current posture in deterring illegal border crossings by utilizing effective border security measures - reinforced concertina wire & anti-climb barriers along the Rio Grande. The logical concern should be why the Federal Government continues to hinder Texas’ ability to protect its border, all while allowing for the exploitation, dangerous, & inhumane methods of permitting illegal immigrants, including children, to illegally cross a dangerous river where many have lost their lives. Texas is the only state using every strategy & resource to protect its sovereignty, combat criminal activity, & discourage illegal immigration."
Supreme Court justices, by a 5-4 vote, granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration, which sued Texas saying the concertina wire prevents Border Patrol agents from readily accessing the riverbanks and getting to distressed migrants.
The State of Texas is still barring Border Patrol and federal officials from accessing Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, where the state installed a gate that is guarded by Texas National Guard.
On Tuesday, the Texas Military Department issued a statement saying the agency "continues to hold the line in Shelby Park to deter and prevent unlawful entry into the State of Texas."
The agency added: "We remain resolute in our actions to serve our border, preserve the rule of law, and protect the sovereignty of our state."
TMD spokesman Maj. Mike Perry told Border Report that in Shelby Park and other places along the Rio Grande, such as in the Rio Grande Valley, spools of concertina wire still stand, and none have been taken down.
In Brownsville, TMD engineering crews also recently built reinforced concertina wire fencing to prevent migrants from trying to climb the fences.
"No wire or barrier removal has taken place. The orders I have are we are maintaining current operations of prevent, deter and interdict," Perry said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton criticized the court's ruling.
“The destruction of Texas’s border barriers will not help enforce the law or keep American citizens safe. This fight is not over, and I look forward to defending our state’s sovereignty," Paxton said. “The Supreme Court’s temporary order allows Biden to continue his illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director for the American Immigration Council, says the Supreme Court order technically applies to all concertina wire that the State of Texas put down on the banks of the Rio Grande, but he says it doesn't necessarily mandate actions regarding it, from a legal standpoint.
"It applies to all Texas concertina wire," Reichlin-Melnick told Border Report on Tuesday. "It's important to understand that all the Supreme Court did was overturn an order saying they couldn't (cut the wire). It's not as if the Supreme Court issued an order affirmatively saying that they could."
"That is, from a legal standpoint, a very crucial distinction. So Texas may force that issue and try to require the Biden administration to get an order a separate brand new order, saying that they can do it," he said.
That likely means more court filings and appeals by the Department of Justice.
In Eagle Pass, community members tell Border Report they just want the wire removed.
"This is something that has no agricultural application. It is only used to inflict pain and inflict harm on other human beings. And the concertina wire on the U.S.-Mexico border on the Rio Grande, it is an absolute total assault on human rights. And we are elated that the Supreme Court has said that this can be cut and removed," Amerika Garcia-Grewal, founder of the Eagle Pass Border Vigil Coalition, told Border Report on Tuesday.
"The only way concertina wire along the shore will stop anyone from crossing is by injury, entanglement and ultimately death from the wire itself. The concertina wire for the reason it was set up, is pointless and inhumane. It should be removed," said Eagle Pass artist Francisco Riojas, who has drawn illustrations regarding the Shelby Park takeover.
"We need to see solutions that work. Because now we have over $10.5 billion that have already been spent on our border to no effect whatsoever. It's a complete waste of time is a complete waste of money. It's deadly," Garcia-Grewal said.
The Texas Legislature has appropriated over $10 billion for border security initiatives, including funding the Texas National Guard and building its own sections of border barrier along the Rio Grande.
Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center, tells Border Report that the concertina wire harms the environment and the river. Her nonprofit studies the international river throughout Texas and applauds the Supreme Court's ruling.
"This was a sound ruling by the Supreme Court. To establish appropriate jurisdiction on the river. The concertina wire does not belong on a river, or on river lands or in an ecosystem," Cortez said.
"Concertina wire belongs in prisons, and it doesn't belong in a community in a public park on a river here in Texas," she said.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.