Biden Administration Seeks to Remove Razor Wire , at US-Mexico Border.
The White House wants the Supreme Court to grant the U.S. Border Patrol permission to remove the wire, CNN reports.
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The president and Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott are at odds over whether the Border Patrol has legal authority to do so.
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Last month, Border Patrol agents were ordered by an appeals court to halt the practice.
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But on Jan.
2, the Justice Department filed an emergency application requesting that the decision be overturned.
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Federal law unambiguously grants Border Patrol agents the authority, without a warrant, to access private land within 25 miles of the international border, DOJ, via Supreme Court appeal.
According to the Biden administration, Border Patrol agents need to be able to remove the razor wire to apprehend migrants or provide medical aid to those who may need it.
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Like other law-enforcement officers, Border Patrol agents operating under difficult circumstances at the border must make context-dependent, sometimes split-second decisions about how to enforce federal immigration laws while maintaining public safety, DOJ, via Supreme Court appeal.
But the injunction prohibits agents from passing through or moving physical obstacles erected by the State that prevent access to the very border they are charged with patrolling and the individuals they are charged with apprehending and inspecting, DOJ, via Supreme Court appeal.
The DOJ also contends that prohibiting the action “removes a key form of officer discretion to prevent the development of deadly situations,” .
Such as “mitigating the serious risks of drowning and death from hypothermia or heat exposure.”.
Border security continues to be a hot button issue heading into election season.
