WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — The Biden administration is asking U.S. Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire that Texas installed at the U.S.-Mexico border, as a lawsuit continues.

U.S. Department of Justice filed an emergency appeal Tuesday, asking the justices to delay an appellate ruling in favor of Texas. The ruling forces federal agents to stop cutting concertina wire the state has installed along 30 miles of the Rio Grande near the border city of Eagle Pass.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has authorized installing floating barriers near Eagle Pass and allowed troopers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges.

In court papers, the administration said the wire impedes Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river and that, in any case, federal immigration law takes precedence over Texas efforts to stem the flow of migrants.

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