Southwest
Texas can keep securing the border. Supreme Court didn't prevent it
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Critics such as Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, claim that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s intention to continue securing the border, including with barbed wire, is “unconstitutional” and that he is violating the Supreme Court’s Jan. 22 order. They’re wrong. There has been no such finding by the Supreme Court, and nothing in that order prevents the governor from trying to protect Texans from the massive wave of aliens illegally crossing the border with the connivance of the Biden administration.
This lawsuit was actually initiated by Texas against the Biden administration after the Border Patrol started destroying the barbed or concertina wire barrier that the state had placed along 29 miles of Eagle Pass, one of the most heavily trafficked crossings in Texas. Texas claimed that the Biden administration was trespassing and destroying its property since the wire barrier was only on municipal or private property, not federal property.
The federal district court’s factual findings were all in favor of Texas and cited the federal government’s refusal to enforce immigration law. In fact, as Texas outlined its brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, the district court concluded that the evidence “amply demonstrates the utter failure of the Defendants to deter, prevent, and halt unlawful entry into the United States.” The district court criticized the Biden administration for seeking “judicial blessing of practices that both directly contravene those same [federal] statutory obligations and require the destruction of the Plaintiff’s property.”
SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH BIDEN IN TEXAS BORDER RAZOR WIRE CASE; BORDER PATROL UNION BLASTS DECISION
But the district court refused to issue an injunction because it believed the federal government was immune from suit under applicable federal law. Texas filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which concluded that the district court’s interpretation of the law was incorrect. The 5th Circuit issued an injunction on Dec. 19 against the federal government pending further appeal with one exception – the right to “cut or move” the wire “if necessary to address any medical emergency.”
The Biden administration then filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking that the injunction be vacated (dissolved). The Supreme Court issued a 5-to-4, two-sentence order simply vacating the injunction while the case is on appeal. This was not a decision on the merits of Texas’s claim against the federal government, which will continue to be litigated in the lower courts.
TEXAS GOVERNOR DOING ‘EXACTLY RIGHT THING’ AMID CONSTITUTIONAL BATTLE OVER BORDER ENFORCEMENT: LEGAL EXPERTS
Significantly, there is nothing in the Supreme Court’s order that prevents Texas from continuing to place barbed wire or other barriers along the border on state or private property. But while the case is pending, there is nothing preventing the federal government from tearing down the wire fencing.
Despite the Supreme Court’s order, Texas has a strong possibility of ultimately winning this case on the merits. Contrary to the Biden administration’s claims, Texas is not interfering in the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law.
So it may end up becoming a race between Texas putting in effective measures to seal off the border, while the Biden administration does everything it can to remove those barriers so the border remains an open sieve as part and parcel of the administration’s deliberate policy of flooding the country with as many illegal aliens as possible.
There is no doubt that Texas’s placement of a barbed-wire barrier has been effective. The district court found that the “the wire was so successful that illegal border crossings dropped to less than a third of their previous levels.” The Biden administration knows this is an effective way of diminishing and deterring illegal border crossings – as Texas pointed out in its brief, the “federal government also uses [the same barbed] wire fencing to deter illegal crossings and route migrants to lawful ports of entry.”
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Yet the district court found that video evidence showed federal agents “cutting multiple holes in the concertina wire for no apparent purpose other than to allow migrants easier entrance further inland.” The video not only showed them cutting holes in the fence, but it also showed them installing a “climbing rope” to make it easier for the aliens to get across the border.
A Border Patrol boat in the middle of the river was just “passively” watching aliens crossing the river, making no attempt whatsoever to stop them from entering the U.S. Once they were across the border, the Border Patrol told the aliens to walk inland “with no supervision in hopes they would proceed to the nearest immigration processing center.”
When Texas officers tried to record what the federal agents were doing, the agents told the Texas law enforcement officers to “back the f*** off” and claimed they were “not authorized to take any pictures.” In other words, the Biden administration was trying to hide what it was doing.
Despite the Supreme Court’s order, Texas has a strong possibility of ultimately winning this case on the merits. Contrary to the Biden administration’s claims, Texas is not interfering in the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law. All of the concertina wire was placed on state or private property whose owners granted Texas an easement on their property. It is the federal government that is trespassing and destroying state-owned or private property.
Moreover, under the Supreme Court’s 2011 holding in Chamber of Commerce v Whiting, state laws are not preempted by federal immigration law unless they contravene federal law. There is no provision in any federal law that explicitly or implicitly prohibits the state from erecting barriers on private property. This is especially true given the fact that the illegal entry of aliens is already prohibited by federal law, 8 U.S.C. § 1325. How can Texas make it more difficult for aliens to enter the country illegally violate that or any other provision?
Clearly, the actions that Texas is taking help the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and the ban on illegal entry. But the whole reason for the Biden administration’s actions in this case is to make sure federal immigration laws are not enforced.
The bottom line here is that this case is far from over. While the Biden administration may have won one round, there are a lot more to go. Hopefully, when this case gets to the Supreme Court on the merits, Texas will win by a knockout.
If it doesn’t, aliens, drugs, smugglers, terrorists, and human traffickers will continue flooding across the Texas border and making their way to every city and county throughout the country. And the Biden administration is just fine with that.
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Southwest
Walmart sales records become critical evidence as FBI investigates Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance
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TUCSON, Ariz. — A single backpack has become a critical focal point in the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, prompting federal authorities to comb through Walmart sales records and store surveillance footage in search of a break.
Investigators are working with Walmart’s corporate security team while agents canvass stores across the Tucson metropolitan area, according to retired Supervisory FBI Agent Jason Pack, who described the strategy as a methodical effort to narrow the universe of possible suspects.
“They’re attacking this issue on several fronts,” Pack told Fox News Digital. “They are working with Walmart corporate security and simultaneously canvassing the stores in metro Tucson. Walmart should be able to trace back all sales of the backpack over a specific period of time. That will create many regional leads as agents track down and account for every single backpack. They’ll also want to recover video from the stores where they were sold.”
Authorities have not publicly detailed how many of the backpacks were sold or over what timeframe they are focusing, but the approach reflects a standard federal investigative technique. Fox News Digital has reached out to Walmart Corp. for additional information.
Photos released Feb. 10, 2025, show a “subject” on Nancy Guthrie’s property. (Provided by FBI)
Former FBI agent John Nantz explained how anything that “ties a subject to the crime is critical in building a case for prosecution.”
Likening the purchase history analysis used in the indictment of Brian Cole Jr., who allegedly planted two live pipe bombs outside the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, Nantz said Cole’s arrest came after investigators developed critical evidence from his purchase history.
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An Ozark Trails backpack for sale at a Walmart store, Tucson, Ariz., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Large retailers maintain SKU-level sales records that capture the date, time and location of each purchase, along with payment method information.
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By isolating sales within a defined window, agents can create a list of purchasers and then prioritize leads based on physical descriptors.
A Walmart store located at 455 E. Wetmore Road, in Tucson, Ariz., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Pack said retail forensics can be decisive when combined with other evidence.
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“When you can match a product to a person through both data and video,” he said, “you begin to shrink the suspect pool quickly.”
An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie was provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” show host. (Courtesy of NBC)
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Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:
Jan. 31, 2026
Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. — Family drops Nancy off at home
9:50 p.m. — Garage door closes (per authorities)
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The FBI released a description of a suspect in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance who was seen in doorbell camera footage before she vanished. (Fox News)
Feb. 1, 2026
1:47 a.m. — Doorbell camera disconnects
2:12 a.m. — Security camera detects motion
2:28 a.m. — Pacemaker disconnects from phone application
11:56 a.m. — Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering
12:03 p.m. — 911 called
12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home
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Southwest
Trump comments on why FBI has not yet taken over Nancy Guthrie case, whether cartels possibly involved
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President Donald Trump on Friday commented on why the FBI has not taken over as the lead agency investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie nearly two weeks since she vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home.
Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her home Feb. 1, and no suspects or persons of interest have been publicly named by authorities 13 days later.
While speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump explained why the Pima County Sheriff’s Department remains the lead on the investigation.
“They didn’t want to let go of it, which is fine. It’s up to them. It’s really up to the communities,” Trump told reporters outside the White House Friday afternoon. “But ultimately, when the FBI got involved, I think, you know, progress has been made.”
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President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said earlier that FBI Director Kash Patel assured her that the bureau was on the ground in Arizona and is offering local authorities the “full resources” of the federal government.
The president’s comments came after a U.S. law enforcement source told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is blocking the FBI from key evidence.
During an interview Friday with Fox News’ Matt Finn, Nanos defended his department’s partnership with the FBI, saying his office did not find a glove at Guthrie’s property and a private Florida lab, which the sheriff’s department has been contracted with for decades, began receiving evidence at the start of the investigation and that the FBI agreed that evidence should continue to be sent there instead of the FBI’s national crime laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Catalina, Arizona, on Feb. 3, 2026, while answering questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
LATEST FBI NEIGHBORHOOD CANVASS IN GUTHRIE CASE COULD MEAN FEDS HAVE ‘DIGITAL EVIDENCE:’ FORMER AGENT
Nanos added he called the FBI for assistance on the next working day after Guthrie’s disappearance and that it would be “absolutely crazy” to not take advantage of their partnership.
FBI Phoenix on Thursday said new “identifying details” about Guthrie’s potential abductor have been confirmed after a forensic analysis of the doorbell camera footage by the FBI’s Operational Technology Division.
The suspect is described as a man, roughly 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with an average build.
An undated photo of Nancy Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie provided by NBC in response to the disappearance of the 84-year-old mother of the “Today” host. (Courtesy of NBC)
SEE IT: FBI SCOURS NEIGHBORHOODS NEAR NANCY GUTHRIE’S ARIZONA HOME
Officials also specified the brand of backpack the suspect was seen wearing in a video released Tuesday, confirming it was a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack.
President Donald Trump spoke with reporters on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, about the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Trump was also asked Friday whether cartels or possibly another “nation state” could be involved in Guthrie’s disappearance.
“You can’t say that yet,” Trump said outside the White House, responding to a question from Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich. “It’s a little bit early.”
“But it’s somebody [who] either knew what they were doing very well, or they were rank amateurs. Either way, it’s not a good situation,” Trump added.
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Southwest
Genealogy company exec slams Pima sheriff’s ‘devastating’ move to ship Nancy Guthrie evidence to Florida lab
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TUCSON, Ariz. — A high-profile forensic genealogy company slammed the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for sending critical evidence in the Nancy Guthrie case to a private lab in Florida instead of directly to the FBI.
“This is so devastating,” said Othram co-founder Kristen Mittelman. “DNA Labs International is a traditional forensic lab that consumes evidence to make an STR [short tandem repeat] profile, so I don’t understand why it didn’t go to Quantico, since they can do this better and faster than anyone, and they have a pipeline to flip it immediately to inferring identity with us.”
Othram is a Texas-based forensic genetic genealogy lab that was instrumental in helping authorities identify infamous murderer Bryan Kohberger, among other high-profile criminals.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos speaks to the media in Catalina, Arizona, on Feb. 3, while answering questions about the search for Nancy Guthrie. ( Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
According to a report by KOLD, DNA Labs International, located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is where Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has sent key evidence to be examined. State records confirm that Arizona has a contract with the company for “biological laboratory services” that began in 2022 and runs through March.
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Mittelman stressed that time is “critical” in every case, especially Guthrie’s.
She also said that Othram worked the case of formerly unidentified murder victim Evelyn Colon after DNA Labs International couldn’t crack the case. Colon, previously known as Beth Doe, was murdered in New Jersey in 1976. She was identified in 2021.
An FBI billboard in Albuquerque, N.M., raising awareness about the search for missing Nancy Guthrie. (KRQE)
A federal law enforcement source told Fox News Digital that the evidence will need to be retested by the FBI anyway.
FBI EVIDENCE IN NANCY GUTHRIE CASE DRAWS TWO-SUSPECT CLAIMS, RETIRED AGENT WEIGHS IN
“It’s just the FBI developed this method and can do it so much better without destroying the evidence,” the source said. “I’ve seen so many cases go to Florida and be consumed. Also, they are not as fast, and in this case, time matters.”
On Thursday, a federal law enforcement source accused Nanos of blocking the FBI from obtaining the evidence, first reported by Reuters and confirmed by Fox News Digital.
“It risks further slowing a case that grows more urgent by the minute,” the official told Reuters, citing unspecified “earlier setbacks” in the investigation. The official also criticized Nanos for not requesting help from the FBI earlier in the case.
FBI investigators search Catalina Foothills in Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie continues. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
ELITE FBI VIDEO UNIT THAT WORKED KOHBERGER CASE SPOTTED AT NANCY GUTHRIE HOME
Nanos denied those allegations, telling KOLD that the Pima County Sheriff’s Department simply wants all evidence to be examined at the same lab.
The sheriff reiterated that message in an interview with Fox News’ Matt Finn on Friday. He told Finn that investigators have been using the Florida lab from the start of the investigation and that Guthrie family DNA, as well as other DNA, had already been sent there.
“Why split your evidence to two different labs that could create a conflict, but more importantly, it adds that additional step,” he said. “This lab has this piece, this lab has that piece. Now they’ve got to converge those two pieces to make an elimination or identification. No, just send it to one lab, let’s go. They’re both great labs. They both have great equipment and smart people.”
“We trust the FBI’s crime lab, we’ve used them before, but in this case we started with that lab,” he said. It’s just that simple.”
Nanos also denied the claim that his office delayed contacting the FBI for assistance in the case, saying he has no reason not to partner with the federal law enforcement agency, that it would be “absolutely crazy” not to do so, and that his department and the FBI are working well together. He said he called the FBI on Monday, Feb.2, the first business day after the investigation began.
He also denied releasing the crime scene at Guthrie’s home too soon.
Earlier this week, the FBI released doorbell camera footage of a suspect, recorded at Guthrie’s home shortly before authorities believe she was abducted or kidnapped.
The suspect is described as a male between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10, with an average build. He was wearing an Ozark Trail Hiker Pack.
Photos released on Feb. 10, 2025, show a “subject” on Nancy Guthrie’s property. (Provided by FBI)
The Pima County Sheriff’s Office did not return a comment request.
DNA Labs International declined to comment.
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Nancy Guthrie disappearance timeline:
Jan. 31, 2026
• Between 9:30–9:45 p.m. – Family drops Nancy off at home
• 9:50 p.m. – Garage door closes (per authorities)
Feb. 1, 2026
• 1:47 a.m. – Doorbell camera disconnects
• 2:12 a.m. – Security camera detects motion
• 2:28 a.m. – Pacemaker disconnects from phone application
• 11:56 a.m. – Family checks on Nancy after she misses weekly church livestream gathering
• 12:03 p.m. — 911 called
• 12:15 p.m. — Sheriff’s deputies arrive at home
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