Biden asks Supreme Court to let Border Patrol destroy Texas border barriers

On Tuesday, the Biden administration asked the US Supreme Court to reinstate federal authority over the international boundary between Mexico and Texas so that Border Patrol agents could cut razor wire at the US southern border with Mexico. Texas officials had constructed the razor wire to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing.

Texas officials were previously victorious in convincing a lower court to block the Border Patrol from removing razor wire that the state had erected along a 29-mile stretch of the Rio Grande.

US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued in a court filing that Congress had given the Border Patrol extensive power to enforce immigration law within 25 miles of the border and that state governments do not have the power to circumvent the authority that the Constitution gives to the federal government, noting that, "Texas's barriers in Eagle Pass impede agents' ability to apprehend and inspect migrants under federal law."

She added that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has "the power and duty to control and guard the boundaries" of the US.

In response, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X, “Americans & courts will reject Biden’s hostility to immigration laws,” adding that he would continue to deploy the National Guard “to build border barriers & repel illegal immigrants.”

He also stated, “See you in court.”

Last month, the Fifth Circuit ordered Texas to remove a 1,000-foot floating barrier that had been installed in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass in response to record numbers of illegal immigrants coming across the US-Mexico border.

Last month, Abbott signed a law giving state authorities the ability to arrest and deport illegal immigrants caught crossing the border between designated ports of entry. According to the Houston Chronicle, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Civil Rights Project have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the new law. Biden’s Justice Department has threatened to follow suit.