WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court of the United States agreed this Monday with the government of President Joe Biden by allowing the cutting or removal of the barbed wire installed by Texas on the border with Mexico to stop the migratory wave that has surpassed since Biden’s arrival at the White House. the 8 million encounters of undocumented immigrants, an unprecedented number.
Tension between Texas, governed by Republican Greg Abbott, and the federal government has been increasing in recent months.
The governor has placed barbed wire on the border and, according to the Biden administration, has prevented federal agents from accessing some sectors and bussed migrants to cities run by Democrats.
In December, a federal appeals court barred the Border Patrol from damaging barbed wire installed by Texas near the town of Eagle Pass on the Rio Grande (called the Rio Bravo in Mexico) unless justified by a medical emergency. .
Texas took the opportunity to install more barbed wire without waiting for the verdict of the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, on an emergency appeal presented by the Department of Justice.
By a very close result of five votes in favor (the three progressive judges and two conservatives) and four against, the court accepted the government’s appeal for processing.
The December ruling “is annulled,” reads the court ruling.
“This is not over”
But it is not the last word. The dispute over whether Texas has the right to install razor wire on the border continues.
“This is not over. The Texas barbed wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal crossings that Biden encourages,” Abbott wrote this Monday on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“I will continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden administration from destroying our property,” he added.
Abbott accuses the Biden administration of pursuing an “open borders” policy and has enacted a law that allows migrants who enter his state irregularly to be detained.
In mid-January, the Democrat Biden government reported that agents from the Texas Military Department allegedly blocked the border patrol from entering an area with an access ramp to the river, to rescue three migrants who drowned, following a request for support from Mexico.
Texas assured that the notice from the Mexican authorities arrived when the incident had occurred and ruled out that they prevented the access of the border police, under federal jurisdiction.
2,300 migrants killed in 3 years
Last weekend, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Chris Olivarez reported the discovery of another body in the river area near Eagle Pass.
He said that in the last three years 2,300 migrants have died from drowning, heat exhaustion, car accidents or “dangerous conditions attributed to human trafficking and harsh environmental conditions.”
Also being evaluated in court is a federal request for Texas to remove a line of large orange buoys that they installed in a portion of the river, in Eagle Pass.
Construction of the wall
Both Abbott and Trump are in favor of resuming the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico and expelling migrants en masse, many of them Latin Americans fleeing violence and poverty.
In general, Republicans have challenged Biden on the immigration crisis, demanding strong measures as a condition for congressional approval of more aid for Ukraine.
According to data from the US border patrol, authorities intercepted migrants and asylum seekers more than 242,000 times last November on the border with Mexico.
Source: With information from AFP
