Supreme Court Gives Joe Biden a Major Win Over Greg Abbott

The Biden administration secured a significant win over Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday after the Supreme Court voted to allow the removal of razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Court voted 5-4 in approval of the White House's request to vacate an injunction from the Fifth Circuit in October, which blocked President Joe Biden's administration from instructing federal agents to cut down wire installed in Texas to deter illegal migration.

The decision marked a rare victory for the Democratic president from the 6-3 conservative court. Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson were joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett from the conservative wing in voting to approve the request to vacate. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh were the dissenting votes.

"The application to vacate injunction presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is granted," the official ruling read. "The December 19, 2023 order of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, case No. 23-50869, is vacated."

A spokesman for Abbott told Newsweek in a statement on Monday afternoon that "the Biden Administration has repeatedly cut wire that Texas installed to stop illegal crossings, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants."

The spokesman added: "The absence of razor wire and other deterrence strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the job of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult. This case is ongoing, and Governor Abbott will continue fighting to defend Texas' property and its constitutional authority to secure the border."

"We are glad the Supreme Court has vacated the injunction that prevented frontline personnel from performing vital federal functions and interfered with their ability to address urgent humanitarian situations and enforce our laws," a White House spokesperson said in a statement provided to Newsweek. "Texas' political stunts, like placing razor wire near the border, simply make it harder and more dangerous for frontline personnel to do their jobs. Ultimately, we need adequate resources and policy changes to address our broken immigration system. That is why on his first day in office President Biden presented Congress with a comprehensive immigration reform plan and that is why he is working to find a bipartisan agreement with Congress that includes additional resources and meaningful policy reforms."

The injunction was granted last fall by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in response to a lawsuit filed in the Western District of Texas and marked another major development in the battle between Abbott's administration and the federal government over the handling of border security. Abbott's state government has regularly taken to placing physical impediments for migrants along the border, which he and his supporters have said are necessary amid the recent surge in migrants.

Opponents have countered, saying that some of the barricades are overly dangerous. They also include circular saws embedded between spherical buoys arranged in a line along the Rio Grande River, which Texas Democratic Representative Sylvia Garcia previously described to Newsweek as "cruel and inhumane."

"I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden's policies," Abbott posted to X, formerly Twitter, in September. "We deployed the Texas National Guard, DPS & local law enforcement. We are building a border wall, razor wire & marine barriers. We are also repelling migrants."

As well as his comments, Abbott posted at the time a letter from November 2022 to Biden regarding the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, which makes similar claims to his X post. He said the president's policies were having catastrophic consequences, adding that Texas has no choice but to "escalate our efforts to secure the state."

Meanwhile, among the individuals and entities named in the initial lawsuit were the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), CBP's acting commissioner Troy Miller, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), USBP's Chief Jason Owens and USBP Del Rio Sector acting chief patrol agent Juan Bernal.

Federal agents and Texas state troopers recently clashed over an incident in which the latter blocked the former from entering a sight near Eagle Pass in order to help a group of migrants struggling to cross the river. A woman and two children from the group ultimately drowned.

Update 1/22/24, 4:42 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

Update 1/22/24, 5:11 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from Abbott's office.

Update 1/24/24. 1:20 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from the White House.