[U] Homeland Security And The Federal CBP Filed -- In The Supremes, At ~2 AM This Morning -- Texas Rangers Are Willfully Refusing The Dept. of Homeland Security Access To Eagle Pass, Texas Border.

This is starting to smell like. . . another insurrection. Updated: And, in case you missed it before -- here is the Department of Homeland Security's original request for immediate Supremes intervention. It is precisely correct, on the applicable law.

One ordered by Governor Greg Abbott (GOP / MAGA) in Texas. The Supremes are asked to rule, on an emergency basis that the Texas Guard, and state police and the Rangers are violating an injunction, as well as numerous federal statutes -- which give the federal government exclusive jurisdiction as to border matters. Do stay tuned -- Abbott may be slapped before Tuesday night, now -- by the Supremes. Here's the late night emergency brief, and a bit -- what an insolent SOB Abbott is!:

. . .Border Patrol agents in a vehicle towing a boat to launch on the boat ramp requested access to Shelby Park, but the Texas Border Patrol agents in a vehicle towing a boat to launch on the boat ramp requested access to Shelby Park, but the Texas National Guard refused to permit them to access the area. App., infra, 4a. Border Patrol agents likewise requested access to the staging area and Texas National Guard refused. Id. at 3a-4a. In addition, prior to the evening of January 10, Border Patrol agents were able to drive trucks with mounted surveillance equipment to various locations in this area. Those trucks were used to maintain visibility and awareness of activity along this stretch of the river and border. Id. at 6a. But the Texas National Guard has now blocked Border Patrol’s access to the area, rendering its agents unable to place mobile surveillance trucks. Ibid. Border Patrol’s ability to view this portion of the border is now limited to a narrow sliver from a single surveillance camera located outside of the newly fenced area. . . .

As described in the attached declaration, Border Patrol has informed this Office that the new wire, fencing, and blocked access points effectively prohibit Border Patrol agents from accessing or getting near the border along this 2.5-mile stretch of the river. App., infra, at 3a. In its response to the emergency application for vacatur, Texas repeatedly contended that Border Patrol agents could access the border via boat or road without cutting the wire. See Opp. 7 & n.1, 10, 26, 27, 33, 34.

But since the evening of January 10, that is not the case. The boat ramp that Texas has blocked off is the only safe and operationally practical boat ramp with access to the relevant portion of the river. See App., infra, 5a-6a. Photographs depicting how Texas has blocked access to Shelby Park are attached as Exhibit B to the declaration. See id. at 10a-18a. Border Patrol’s normal access to the border through entry points in the federal border barrier is likewise blocked by the Texas National Guard installing its own gates and placing armed personnel in those locations to control entry. See id. at 4a. And the Texas National Guard has likewise blocked Border Patrol from using an access road through the preexisting state border barrier by stationing a military Humvee there. See ibid. A photograph depicting the military Humvee blocking that access road is attached as Exhibit C to the declaration. See id. at 19a-20a. . . .

This Court should. . . restore Border Patrol’s access to the border it is charged with patrolling and the migrants it is responsible for apprehending, inspecting, and processing. . . .

This is. . . truly. . . insolent; and threatens the integrity of the Union. Yikes.

OTOH, perhaps Abbott is seeking an echo -- of GOP Gov. Geo. Wallace, at the door of the University of Alabama -- trying impotently to stop integration. So perhaps it is ironically fitting that the Supremes will consider it over MLK Day weekend, 2024. "Only light can do. . . that." Out.

नमस्ते