Appeals Court Revives Lawsuit on Border Wall

A federal lawsuit filed by two Republican-led states against the Biden administration, seeking to resume construction of the border wall, has been revived by an appeals court and thrust into the spotlight.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lawsuit brought by Texas and Missouri in 2021 had the legal standing to proceed, overturning a lower court’s decision, The Washington Examiner reported.

According to U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, Texas alleges that “(and [the Department of Homeland Security] has in the past affirmed) border barriers (i) reduce illegal entries in areas where constructed, and (ii) increase the rate at which illegal aliens are detected and apprehended.”

In July of 2021, the Texas General Land Office sued the federal government arguing that the suspension of wall construction had turned the border into a “superhighway.”

By October 2021, Texas and Missouri sued, claiming that the cancellation of congressionally appropriated funding for border wall projects had financially burdened them to provide healthcare, education, and driver’s licenses to released illegal immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez dismissed the states’ case but allowed the General Land Office’s lawsuit to proceed, highlighting the harm caused to state-owned land.

Last December, the appeals court panel, led by Judge Jones, determined that Texas and Missouri had standing to proceed due to the significant costs incurred by the states.

Judge Jones stated, “These benefits [of having a wall] would reduce some number of illegal immigrants entering Texas, even if they do not fully stem the tide, and thereby reduce Texas’s costs relative to a non-border wall policy.”

Judge Jones has directed an expeditious ruling on the states’ preliminary injunction request.