Razor Wire Barrier Between Texas and New Mexico Branded Unconstitutional

A New Mexico congressman has described a razor wire barrier put up along the state's border with Texas as "unconstitutional."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered his National Guard to install the barrier along some parts of the Texas-New Mexico state line—the latest move by the Republican to prevent migrants from entering his state.

Guard members reinforced the barrier with concertina wire near the New Mexico city of Sunland Park, which shares a border with El Paso, Texas.

"Our barriers around El Paso forced the migrants crossing illegally to enter into New Mexico," Abbott wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

"They then entered into El Paso from there. To end that, we are building a barrier on the New Mexico border."

Rep. Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat who represents New Mexico's 2nd district, told Newsweek in a statement: "The political move by the Texas governor to install a barrier between New Mexico and Texas is unconstitutional. To limit travel between U.S. states limits our rights as Americans."

He added: "This is one of the many political stunts that the Texas governor has cooked up to demonize immigrants and that provides no real long-term solution to the crisis that we're facing."

Vasquez said the governor had "put up an illegal border wall with shipping containers, then he conned migrants into taking buses to other states without their clear consent, then he put up a death trap on the Rio Grande that drowned innocent migrants seeking asylum and, now, his latest stunt is putting up a barrier between Texas and New Mexico."

Newsweek has contacted Abbott for comment via email.

Abbott has deployed aggressive measures at the southern border as part of a multibillion-dollar campaign called Operation Lone Star.

The measures include a 1,000-foot floating barrier made up of bright orange buoys in the Rio Grande. The buoys, which have circular saws in between, seek to make it even harder to cross the river, where many migrants have drowned. The U.S. Justice Department has sued Abbott over the barrier.

Razor wire fencing has also been installed along the border and Texas has paid for buses to transport migrants to Democratic-led cities since the spring of last year. By Abbott's count, Texas has bused about 58,000 migrants out of the state, including more than 20,000 to New York City.

Democrats in Texas and New Mexico have called for the barrier between the states to be removed.

"Shame on Greg Abbott for using public tax dollars to uplift his dangerous approach to border security, and infringing upon Texans' and New Mexicans' right to move freely across state lines," Gilberto Hinojosa, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, and Jessica Velasquez, chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party, said in a joint statement issued on Tuesday.

"Texas and New Mexico Democrats condemn Abbott's razor wire fencing along our state borders, and call for its removal effective immediately."

Update 10/19/23, 11:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add a statement to Newsweek from Rep. Gabe Vasquez.