The Biden administration wins the round against Texas. Currently. In a surprising decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Democratic government in a dispute that has been causing tension for weeks. The justices' 5-4 decision allows Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Greg Abbott's administration erected in Eagle Pass County to prevent migrants from entering Mexico.
None of the Togados have publicly explained their decision. However, the vote broke the conservative majority left by former President Donald Trump on the Constitutional Court. Supreme Court President John Roberts, along with Amy Coney Barrett, joined the progressive bloc of Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor in voting in favor of the Biden administration in an emergency motion. Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas voted against it.
This Monday's decision is not final. A process aimed at settling border surveillance responsibilities between the federal government and that of Texas continues. Last month, a federal appeals court ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials to stop destroying the cable. The Biden administration took the case to the Supreme Court. Biden had already won a major court victory on this issue last year when the Supreme Court allowed him to prioritize deportations.
The Abbott government, one of the most radical in its fight against irregular immigration, has laid 30 miles of barbed wire along the border with Mexico. The epicenter of this fight against migrants is in Eagle Pass County, which borders the Mexican city of Piedras Negras (Coahuila). Border crossings there increased because the final leg of the journey became more dangerous for migrants in other border cities such as Juárez in Chihuahua or Reynosa in Tamaulipas.
In addition to increasing National Guard surveillance, Abbott took other controversial measures to stem the flow of people coming to Texas. Since April 2022, it has sent more than 100,000 immigrants on buses to Democratic cities, forcing receiving authorities to demand the White House change its immigration policies. He also placed buoys in the Rio Grande, the natural border between the United States and Mexico.
Tensions between Texas and the Biden administration had increased in recent days. On the night of Friday, January 12, Mexican authorities told the Border Patrol that two migrants were on the verge of drowning on the U.S. side of the border. On the same day, a few minutes earlier and at the same time, a mother and her two children died in the river while trying to cross into the United States.
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After being notified by members of the National Immigration Institute, Border Patrol members attempted to enter Shelby Park, an area of the border guarded by state officials since January 11. They refused them entry on the grounds that superiors had given strict instructions to prevent federal forces from entering even in “emergency situations.”
The federal government argues in the lawsuit that the concertina miles hinder the work of federal agencies, which, according to the Constitution, are the only ones able to regulate and monitor the borders of the United States. The Supreme Court's decision this Monday appears to be consistent with these principles, although sharp disagreements remain between Biden and Abbott, who claims that his Lone Star operation helped arrest nearly half a million people.
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