WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court for emergency action on Tuesday to allow federal agents to cut through Texas’ razor wire barriers blocking Border Patrol from reaching migrants who enter the U.S. through the Southwest border.
Texas’ efforts to block migrants from entering the state have also impeded federal agents’ apprehension of illegal border crossers. The Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to step in so Border Patrol can continue doing its job without interference from Texas.
“The district court denied a preliminary injunction, but the Fifth Circuit issued an injunction pending appeal that (subject to only a narrow exception) prohibits Border Patrol agents from cutting or moving Texas’s wire barriers that physically block agents from accessing the international border and reaching migrants who have already entered U.S. territory,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote. “That injunction is manifestly wrong.”
Texas installed hundreds of miles of concertina wire and shipping containers along its border as part of Operation Lone Star, a $9 billion border security initiative. One stretch of wire sits upon the riverbank in Eagle Pass, a popular border crossing location.
Wires are positioned on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, allowing migrants to cross the river but not to access the shore. Surging with strong currents, the Rio Grande is four to six feet deep, lined by steep and slippery embankments.
The razor wire along this pass stretches for four miles without any breaks, preventing border agents from reaching migrants who cross.
“By preventing Border Patrol agents from reaching noncitizens who have already entered the United States, Texas’s barriers in Eagle Pass impede agents’ ability to apprehend and inspect migrants under federal law,” Prelogar wrote.
Apart from impeding the work of border agents, the federal government says, the wire has injured agents and made emergency response efforts increasingly difficult.
Migrants who cross the border often face deadly outcomes, such as drowning or death from hypothermia or heat exposure. The Biden administration says cutting the wire takes 10 to 30 minutes, delaying border agents’ responses to emergencies.
Border Patrol is allowed to cut through the wire to address these emergencies and make arrests. State personnel have even done so themselves. But Texas claims the Biden administration's efforts have amounted to trespassing and filed a complaint in October of last year.
A judge refused to issue an injunction blocking federal agents from cutting the wire. In December, however, the Fifth Circuit agreed to do so. The appeals court ordered the federal government to stop damaging, destroying or otherwise interfering with Texas’ fence in Eagle Pass, except when necessary to respond to a medical emergency.
The Biden administration claims federal law grants border agents express authority to access land along the border and interrogate or arrest anyone who crosses into the country illegally. By favoring Texas’ law the federal government says the appeals court violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
“The court of appeals’ contrary ruling inverts the Supremacy Clause by requiring federal law to yield to Texas law,” Prelogar wrote. “If accepted, the court’s rationale would leave the United States at the mercy of States that could seek to force the federal government to conform the implementation of federal immigration law to varying state-law regimes.”
One such regime cited by Prelogar stems from the blue state of California, which has tried to prevent the federal government from contracting with private groups to run immigration detention centers. The law was shot down by the Ninth Circuit.
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