WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Biden administration’s request for emergency relief to access the Southwest border despite efforts by Texas to commandeer the area.
None of the justices commented on the apparent 5-4 ruling, but Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh publicly dissented from the order.
Although the dispute began over razor wire Texas has placed along the border, Texas escalated the fight by barring access to a park in the area — an event the Biden administration ties to the deaths of several migrants.
The Department of Justice told the Supreme Court that Mexico informed Border Patrol that migrants were in distress on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande. Earlier in the evening three migrants had drowned in the same area.
Border Patrol claims that although they informed Texas of the urgent situation, Texas would not allow agents into Shelby Park to help the migrants. According to the Justice Department, Border Patrol agents were told they could not access the area even in emergencies.
The migrants, who were suffering from hypothermia, had to be rescued by the Mexican government.
“Those events underscore that Texas is firm in its continued efforts to exercise complete control of the border and land adjacent to it on this 2.5-mile stretch of the Rio Grande and to block Border Patrol’s access to the border even in emergency circumstances,” U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote.
The federal government stopped short of directly blaming Texas for the deaths of the three migrants but cited the tragedy as a reason why federal access to the border was essential.
“It is impossible to say what might have happened if Border Patrol had had its former access to the area – including through its surveillance trucks that assisted in monitoring the area,” Prelogar wrote. “At the very least, however, Border Patrol would have had the opportunity to take any available steps to fulfill its responsibilities and assist its counterparts in the Mexican government with undertaking the rescue mission. Texas made that impossible.”
Texas said the migrant deaths were tragic but preventable. The Lone Star State claims its installation of concertina wire was an effort to block migrants from making the dangerous journey across the Rio Grande.
The state has spent $9 billion on its border security initiative, named Operation Lone Start, which includes placing miles of concertina wire and shipping containers along Texas’ border to deter migrants from entering the country.
Border Patrol says Texas’ efforts to block illegal immigration are interfering with the federal government’s efforts to enforce laws like arresting migrants who enter the country.
The popular border crossing at Eagle Pass is at the head of this conflict. Texas’ border wire sits on the bank of the Rio Grande in this area, allowing migrants to cross the river but not reach the other side. Border Patrol says once migrants cross the river, they are entering the country and must be arrested, but their agents can’t reach these migrants because of the razor wire. Federal agents have also been thwarted in their efforts to provide emergency support for migrants who cross the river.
Border Patrol said agents were forced to cut through the wire. Texas saw these actions as trespassing and destroying the state’s property and sued the federal government. The Biden administration was ordered to cease its destruction of the wire barriers by an appeals court.
The federal government asked the Supreme Court for emergency relief, claiming the narrow medical emergencies exception provided by the appeals court was not enough for federal agents to carry out their duties.
Texas characterized the move as an inflation of federal authority, urging the justices to keep the injunction in place. The state said the federal government could not destroy its property to enforce federal immigration laws.
Shortly after the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene, the Fifth Circuit put the case on its calendar for early February. Texas said this proved a pause from the high court was unnecessary.
Follow @KelseyReichmann
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