(RepublicanNews.org) – In their continued effort to remove razor-barbed wire from the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the Biden administration is now petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and allow Border Patrol agents to clear the wire barrier.
In a filing on Tuesday, January 2nd, President Joe Biden’s administration presented an argument that the federal government has the authority and jurisdiction to remove the concertina wire installed by Texas officials along the Rio Grande River at the southern border. The Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote in its Supreme Court appeal that the extent of federal law is unambiguous and grants “the authority, without warrant” to Border Patrol agents to “access private land within 25 miles” of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
The Justice Department argues further that the wire, which stretches for 30 miles near Eagle Pass, prevents federal agents from gaining access to areas along the border they are legally entitled to access. The filing states that Border Patrol agents, “like other law-enforcement officers,” have to be able to “make context-dependent… split-second decisions” regarding the enforcement of immigration laws while also “maintaining public safety.”
The DOJ states that the Texas injunction interrupts federal agents’ ability to do their job, which requires “passing through or moving physical obstacles” placed there by the state in order to patrol the area they’re charged with overseeing, while apprehending and inspecting individuals within in that area.
Texas countersued the federal government last year in October to stop border agents from severing the wire, an appeal approved by the Fifth Circuit appellate court in December 2023.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to keep fighting the federal government’s efforts to stop him from securing the southern border. He responded to the threat by telling the federal government, “See you in court.” The Texas governor recently passed a law allowing state authorities to arrest illegal immigrants and deport them, which is also being challenged by the Biden administration.
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