The Biden Administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol agents to cut down razor wire installed on the US-Mexico border.
It comes after state officials won a court order that blocked agents from removing the wire installed in Texas.
However, on Tuesday, the Justice Department filed an emergency application, asking the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.
“Federal law unambiguously grants Border Patrol agents the authority, without a warrant, to access private land within 25 miles of the international border,” the department wrote in its appeal to the high court.
The move is the latest escalation in a rising conflict between President Joe Biden and Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott over border policies.
Last year, Texan Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Biden’s administration to stop the wire cutting, stating that it illegally destroys state property and undermines security.
The razor wire was laid down by state troopers and National Guardsmen deployed by the state, in an operation that has so far cost more than $11billion.
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Abbott has also authorised installing floating barriers in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges.
Biden’s administration said the wire stops Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river.
However, Texas officials have argued that the administration has cut the wire in order to help people illegally cross the border.
Last month, the US Court of Appeals sided with Texas, which sued the Department of Homeland Security under state trespass laws for cutting through the wire.
They concluded that the Border Patrol couldn’t remove the wire while the litigation proceeds.
However, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in court papers that state governments have no place to displace federal authority in Washington.
Abbott, in a post on social media, said: “Americans & courts will reject Biden’s hostility to immigration laws.”
He said the state would continue to deploy the National Guard “to build border barriers & repel illegal immigrants.”
from GB News https://ift.tt/jPMwekc
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