Biden administration asks Supreme Court to let Border Patrol remove razor wire on US-Mexico border

CNN —

The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the US Border Patrol to remove razor wire at the US-Mexico border – another escalation in the dispute between President Joe Biden and Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over border policy.

The dispute is over whether the Border Patrol has the legal authority to cut concertina wire that Texas had installed on the banks of the Rio Grande. The state sued last year to stop the wire cutting, saying it illegally destroys state property and undermines security in order to assist migrants in crossing the border.

A federal appeals court last month ordered Border Patrol agents to stop the practice while court proceedings play out, and the Justice Department on Tuesday filed an emergency application, asking the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.

“Federal law unambiguously grants Border Patrol agents the authority, without a warrant, to access private land within 25 miles of the international border,” the department wrote in its appeal to the high court.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss migration amid concern about increased crossing at the U.S.-Mexico border, in Mexico City, Mexico December 27, 2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha

Mexican officials to visit Washington next month to continue border discussions

Texas and the federal government have repeatedly sparred over the US-Mexico border, and the issue has become a focal point for the Republican Party as the country enters a heated election season. Republicans have slammed the Biden administration for its handling of a surge of migrants at the border.

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