US Supreme Court allows cutting of barbed wire on border with Mexico

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled this Monday in favor of President Joe Biden’s government by allowing the cutting or removal of the barbed wire installed by Texas on the border with Mexico to deter migrant crossings.

The tension between Texasgoverned by the Republican Greg Abbottand the federal government has been on the rise in recent months, particularly as the November presidential election approaches.

The governor, a supporter of former Republican President Donald Trump, has placed barbed wire on the border, prevented federal agents from accessing some areas and transferred migrants on buses 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 sentenceis canceled“, reads the court ruling.

But it is not the last word. The dispute over whether Texas has the right to install razor wire on the border continues.

Abbott accuses the Biden administration of carrying out a policy of “open borders” and has enacted a law that allows migrants who enter their state irregularly to be detained.

So much Abbott as trump They are in favor of resuming the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico and of massively expelling migrants, many of them Latin Americans fleeing violence and poverty.

In general, the Republicans have given a fight to Biden in the immigration crisis, demanding strong measures as a condition for giving congressional approval to 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. December figures have not been published.