In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal by the Biden administration to allow Border Patrol agents to resume cutting razor wire set up by Texas along the southern border. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had sued the administration over its damaging of the wire, expressed disappointment with the court’s ruling, stating that it allows President Biden to continue his “illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America.” Paxton emphasized that the destruction of Texas’s border barriers will not help enforce the law or keep American citizens safe, and vowed to continue defending the state’s sovereignty.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the three liberal justices in the majority vote. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh would have denied the application to vacate injunction, the court said. The ruling has sparked further controversy and debate over immigration policies and the balance of power between federal and state governments.
The Biden administration argued that the wire inhibits Border Patrol’s ability to patrol the border and that federal immigration law supersedes Texas’ own efforts to control the border. The Department of Homeland Security welcomed the Supreme Court’s order, stating that enforcement of immigration law is a federal responsibility and that Texas’s actions only make it harder for frontline personnel to do their jobs.
However, critics, including Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, believe that the ruling will encourage more illegal immigration and divert Border Patrol agents’ attention from dealing with criminal elements crossing the border. Judd argues that Texas was attempting to address the lack of effective border security policies from the Biden administration.
This ruling is just one of many battles between the federal government and Texas over the situation at the southern border. The Department of Justice has also sued the state over the deployment of buoys in the Rio Grande to stop illegal crossings, while the federal government has sued over a recently-signed anti-illegal immigration law in Texas that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. Tensions between Texas and the Biden administration escalated when Texas seized the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass and blocked Border Patrol from entering, leading to the threat of litigation.
The outcome of these legal disputes will have significant implications for immigration policies and the balance of power between the federal government and individual states. As the debate continues, it remains to be seen how the Biden administration will address border security and immigration issues, and how Texas will continue to assert its sovereignty in border enforcement matters.
National correspondent Matt Finn contributed to this report. Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News, specializing in immigration and border security coverage. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.
