WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears to be evenly divided about the right of Mexican parents to use American courts to sue a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired across the U.S.-Mexican border and killed their teenage son.

Justice Anthony Kennedy and other conservative justices suggested during argument Tuesday that the boy's death on the Mexican side of the border was enough to keep the matter out of U.S. courts.

The four liberal justices indicated they would support the parents' lawsuit because the shooting happened close to the border in an area in which the two nations share responsibility for upkeep.

A 4-4 tie could cause the court to hold onto the case and schedule a new round of argument if Judge Neil Gorsuch is confirmed as the ninth justice.