WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court voted Monday to let the Biden administration remove concertina wire border barriers that Texas erected to fight illegal immigration from Mexico — a hot button issue in this election year.

The barriers are the brainchild of Texas governor Greg Abbott, an outspoken supporter of former president Donald Trump, who is making immigration one of the key tools of his bid to retake the White House in November. Abbott has accused Biden of "deliberate inaction" as record numbers of Central Americans and people of other nationalities have streamed across the US-Mexico border in recent months.

In December a federal appeals court barred the Biden government from removing the concertina wire barrier from the banks of the Rio Grande near the town of Eagle Pass, except in case of medical emergency. This month the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to remove this injunction in an emergency application while the court considers the full merits of the case.

The court voted 5-4 Monday, including the support of chief justice John Roberts, to side with the Biden administration. Neither side gave reasons for their vote, which is common when the court decides on emergency petitions.

Abbott has made national headlines by bussing immigrants to cities seen as traditionally liberal, such as New York, as part of his campaign to draw attention to what he calls Biden's failed border policy. The Texas National Guard seized control January 11 of a park in Eagle Pass that lies along the Rio Grande, a move that heightened tensions with the Biden administration.

The Justice Department has accused the governor of preventing federal border agents from doing their job by denying them access to the border, even in the event of emergency, along a 2.3 mile (3.7 kilometer) stretch of the river. But Texas authorities refute this allegation. – AFP