By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Texas National Guard this week erected new barriers along part of the state’s border with Mexico blocking access for U.S. Border Patrol agents, the federal government said in a Friday court filing, in an escalating conflict between the Republican state government and the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden over migration.
Lawyers for the Biden administration told the U.S. Supreme Court in their filing that Texas’ “activities have changed the situation along the relevant stretch of the Rio Grande.” They added that the additional barriers in and around Eagle Pass, Texas “further restricts Border Patrol’s ability to reach the river in particular areas.”
The filing comes after the administration earlier this month asked the justices to temporarily allow Border Patrol agents to cut or remove controversial razor-wire fencing that Texas officials placed along part of the Republican-governed state’s border with Mexico to deter illegal border crossings.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing.
The move by Texas comes as the Republican governor has bused some 100,000 migrants from the state to Democratic cities around the country and criticized the Biden administration for the record number of migrants crossings in recent years. Migration is set to be a top issue as Biden runs for re-election in November.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the administration’s request to pause a lower court’s ruling that temporarily blocked federal agents from disturbing the fencing while litigation over the issue proceeds.
(Reporting by John Kruzel in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Chizu Nomiyama)
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