WASHINGTON – A sharply divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut or move razor wire installed in Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the state’s effort to prevent illegal border crossings.
Court By a 5-4 vote, an emergency request filed by the Biden administration, which had argued that Texas was preventing agents from carrying out their duties, was accepted.
The brief order notes that four conservative members of the nine-judge court would have rejected the government’s request. They were Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Biden administration says the cable prevents agents from reaching migrants who have already crossed the border into the US.
Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, installed the razor wire near the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass as part of an operation to address illegal immigration that has put the state in conflict with the Biden administration.
Texas filed a lawsuit after Border Patrol agents cut part of the barbed wire, alleging that agents had trespassed and damaged state property.
A federal judge ruled in favor of the Biden administration, but last month the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, saying agents could not cut or move the wire unless there was a medical emergency.
Abbott’s immigration enforcement plan, called Operation Lone Star, includes busing thousands of immigrants to cities led by Democrats and arrest immigrants on trespassing charges. The state previously placed buoys in the Rio Grande to prevent crossings, prompting the Biden administration to file a lawsuit. Currently, the barrier remains in place while the litigation continues.
Even as the Biden administration’s request was pending at the Supreme Court, the standoff between the federal government and Texas intensified.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rejected a request from the Biden administration that the state stop taking control of a public park in Eagle Pass. This came after an incident in which three people drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande. The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents were “physically prohibited” from entering the area during the incident.