A tense exchange between Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor over a border ruling is drawing renewed attention now that the recording has been turned over to the National Archives. The confrontation unfolded last spring, after Sotomayor read a dissent aloud from the bench and set off a sharp verbal back-and-forth that was not livestreamed. Because the exchange was not broadcast at the time, the recording offers a newly available account of a disagreement over both the court's handling of the case and the policy at issue.

Zach Schonfeld of The Hill published a one-minute-and-six-second clip of the exchange on his X account, where it has been generating discussion on social media.

The clip opens with Justice Sotomayor saying: "But also regrettably and tragically extinguishes the welcoming light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty. I, with Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson, therefore respect dissent."

Justice Alito responds: "There is much that I would have added to my initial bench statement in the last case had I known that there would be a dissenting bench statement, so the policy in question was adopted by two very different administrations as a way of dealing with surges of aliens along the southern border in a way that was orderly and humane. I won't add anything more to that. Anyone who is interested can read the opinions in this case, and I will pass on to the last case that I'm announcing…"

According to NPR, the conflict came after Alito summarized three major rulings he wrote for the Supreme Court's six-member conservative majority. He did not provide a lengthy summary, and there were reportedly other cases unresolved.

The first case passed without much attention. Alito then announced a ruling on whether migrants can seek asylum at U.S.-Mexico border crossings by presenting themselves to officials and showing they have a credible fear of persecution in their home countries. He sided with the Trump administration's policy of turning away all such asylum seekers at the border. The Obama administration once followed a similar policy, but lower courts blocked it.

Sotomayor read a summary of her contrary views in dissent during a brief pause in Alito's announcement on the border issue, prompting his rebuttal.

The court later told NPR the episode was a misunderstanding, saying in a statement: "Justice Alito was notified in advance by Justice Sotomayor's chambers that she would be reading a dissent from the bench. It was a misunderstanding on Justice Alito's part."