Abbott notes that “this is not over” and believes that barbed wire “is an effective deterrent”
The Supreme Court of the United States approved this Monday by five votes to four to authorize the removal of the fence installed by the state of Texas on the border with Mexico as part of the effort by state authorities to prevent the crossing of migrants.
A federal appeals court paralyzed the work of the Border Patrol, a federal police force, in December due to doubts about its powers and referred the case to the Supreme Court, which has now ruled in favor of the federal authorities.
The decision is a political victory for the US president, Joe Biden, facing the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, over border control powers. From Washington they appealed to the Supreme Clause of the Constitution, which establishes that federal laws are above state laws.
The controversy has been exacerbated in recent days after the death of three migrants who drowned in an area of the Rio Grande to which federal agents did not have access by state decision.
“If they agree with Texas, the other states in the country could resort to their own laws to prevent the federal government from exercising its authority,” argued Department of Justice representative Elizabeth Prelogar.
Texas, for its part, denounced the illegal destruction of state property due to the intervention of the Border Patrol to cut the fence, even in cases of medical emergencies. “There is no basis for this court’s intervention, much less now,” the state alleged.
“Cutting down the Texas fence so thousands of people flood into Texas has nothing to do with an inspection,” added Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
For his part, Abbott has indicated that “this is not over” and has asserted that he will continue to “defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden Administration from destroying” state property.
“The Texas barbed wire is an effective deterrent against the illegal crossings that Biden encourages,” he declared through his personal profile on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
