The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to enable federal Border Patrol officials to cut through or move razor wire built by Texas on the US-Mexico border as part of the state’s disputed effort to halt illicit border crossings.
In a court filing, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stated that Border Patrol agents have the power under federal law to enter private land along the border and that Texas has no reason to prevent them from carrying out their duties. According to the Biden administration, the wire stops authorities from accessing individuals who have already crossed the border into the United States.
The dispute occurred after Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott’s administration, a Republican, placed razor wire near the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, as part of a program to combat illegal immigration that has strained relations with the Biden administration.
Texas filed a lawsuit after Border Patrol agents broke through portions of the razor wire, claiming the agents had trespassed and harmed state property.
A federal judge rejected to issue an injunction against the federal government, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of Texas last month, stating agents could not cut or move the wire unless there was a medical emergency.
“Like other law-enforcement officers, Border Patrol agents operating under difficult circumstances at the border must make context-dependent, sometimes split-second decisions about how to enforce federal immigration laws while maintaining public safety,” he said.
“But the injunction prohibits agents from passing through or moving physical obstacles erected by the state that prevent access to the very border they are charged with patrolling and the individuals they are charged with apprehending and inspecting,” she went on to say.
Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s immigration enforcement strategy, also includes busing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities and detaining migrants on trespassing charges. Previously, the state erected buoys in the Rio Grande to deter crossings, forcing the Biden administration to sue. Lower courts ordered the removal of the buoys.