Last Updated on January 23, 2024
Justice Roberts’s SCOTUS order clears the way for federal agents to remove razor wire used by the state to secure the border.
Federal agents are clear to begin removing razor wire laid by the State of Texas to secure its southern border with Mexico after the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order lifting an injunction imposed by the U.S. 5th Circuit last month that had prevented the Biden administration from removing the state’s barriers.
In the 5 to 4 order, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Kentaji Brown Jackson in siding with the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motion to vacate the appeals court’s preliminary injunction.
The 5th Circuit’s preliminary injunction was only a temporary protection barring federal authorities from removing the razor wire. While the Supreme Court’s order suggests it might ultimately side against the state, the high court could still rule either way when it makes its final decision in the case.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brent Kavanaugh would have denied the DOJ’s request and left the appeals court injunction in place protecting the barriers from being removed.
The split ruling favoring the Biden administration comes amid rising tensions between the state and federal governments over the crisis at the southern border.
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham reacted to news of the order on social media, calling it a “federally-sanctioned invasion.”
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the seizure of Eagle Pass’s city-owned Shelby Park this month, with state law enforcement and Texas National Guard troopers preventing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from entering the area.
For now, the decision allows the federal government to continue exercising plenary authority at the border until the court reaches a final determination in the pending case.
