Two conservative Supreme Court justices just handed Joe Biden a huge victory at the southern border.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that US Border Patrol agents could rip down razor-wire fencing along the Rio Grande River installed by Texas.
The 5-4 decision represents a significant victory for the Biden administration, with Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett siding with liberal justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, rather than the court’s five conservatives.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh all dissented.
Monday’s decision comes after the Biden administration requested that the Supreme Court overturn an injunction issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last month, which temporarily halted a lower-court verdict that authorized federal agents to cut through Texas’ razor-wire wall along the border.
The appellate court stayed that ruling while it reviewed the matter, prompting the Biden administration to petition the Supreme Court to intercede.
The US Justice Department said in a court filing that Texas National Guard personnel had built razor-wire barriers along a 2.5-mile length of the US-Mexico border, as well as new fencing further inland.
“That fencing further restricts Border Patrol’s ability to reach the river in particular areas,” the Justice Department stated.
According to the report, Texas’ actions “demonstrate an escalation of the State’s measures to block Border Patrol’s ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies.”