Border wall materials were reportedly listed for sale with a starting bid of just $5.
The Biden administration has been instructed by a federal judge not to sell off portions of the U.S.–Mexico border wall, which would allow President-elect Donald Trump to use these materials.
On Dec. 17, the State of Texas filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas McAllen Division after reports of the Biden administration selling segments of the border wall along the U.S.–Mexico Border.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he secured a victory in the case after a hearing on Friday.
The Biden administration agreed to a court order preventing the federal government from “disposing of any further border wall materials over the next 30 days—allowing President Trump to use those materials as he sees fit,” Paxton’s office said.
If the order is violated, the court has the authority to enforce it.
“This follows our major victory forcing [President Joe] Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his Administration accountable for illegally subverting our Nation’s border security until their very last day in power, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda,” Paxton said in a Dec. 27 statement.
Congress had dedicated around $1.4 billion to build fencing along the southern border as part of Trump’s bid to counter illegal immigration. After Biden came to power, he issued an executive order ceasing wall construction and asked the Department of Homeland Security to use the funds for other purposes.
In May 2024, Attorney General Paxton secured a court order forcing the Biden administration to spend the funds on the border wall. Selling off portions of the border wall that was bought using funds allocated for the purpose would be deemed a violation of this order.
The Dec. 17 lawsuit was filed after reports that the federal government “may be auctioning off up to half a mile per day of border wall sections for a mere fraction of the original purchase cost,” Paxton’s office said. “In some cases, the government is allegedly listing entire wall panel sections for sale at a starting bid of just $5.”
