Border Dispute: Chip Roy Urges Texas to Ignore Supreme Court Ruling on Razor Wire

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy urged the state's lawmakers on Tuesday to ignore the Supreme Court's ruling that sided with the Biden administration regarding razor wire installations across the border.

The high court's decision allowed the federal government to remove the razor wire that was installed in an effort to prevent migrant crossings at the border.

The development comes as the state legislature and the current administration have been in a feud over barricades placed amid a surge in asylum seekers.

Supreme Court Ruling

Roy said that the state has a duty under the Constitution to protect its citizens, saying that there was "no exception to that." He argued that if the Supreme Court wanted to ignore that fact, which he noted that a slim majority did, the state still had that duty.

The Republican lawmaker cited an example where someone was breaking into your house and the court said that you cannot defend yourself. He then said that the people should then tell the court to "go to h*ll" and then defend themselves and figure out what to do afterward, as per Axios.

Furthermore, several other Texas Republicans expressed their disagreement with the Supreme Court's ruling on the matter. On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that the state's National Guard "continues to hold the line in Eagle Pass."

He added that the state will not back down from its efforts to secure the border in Biden's absence. The governor also affirmed a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety that said the state "will maintain its current posture in deterring illegal border crossings by utilizing effective border security measures.

These include reinforced concertina wire and anti-climb barriers along the Rio Grande River. Additionally, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argued that the high court's ruling made him angry and accused United States President Joe Biden of "deliberately, systematically" dismantling progress that the state made in securing the border.

The Supreme Court's decision on the matter was made on Monday and resulted in a 5-4 ruling. It comes as the federal government had argued that the razor wire illegally prevented them from managing the border properly, according to NewsNation.

Texas Border Dispute

Earlier this month, the border dispute escalated when the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety erected fences and razor wire in Eagle Pass. This area is a popular spot for migrants to cross into the United States.

Furthermore, Texas law enforcement personnel have been preventing U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing the area. The latter had said that this prevented them from saving the life of a mother and two children who drowned in the Rio Grande River.

The latest development comes as Abbott has mounted a multi-billion dollar campaign since 2021 to impose strict measures at the border to curb illegal immigration. This includes enacting a sweeping law that allowed local and state law enforcement to arrest migrants who cross the border from Mexico.

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for Abbott, defended the state's practices and pledged that they will keep pressing the case. He argued that the absence of razor wire and other deterrence strategies only encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, said the New York Times.