The US appeals court orders Texas to remove the buoy barrier in Rio Grande
A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the state of Texas to remove a barrier of floating buoys in the Rio Grande that was installed under Governor Greg Abbott’s orders to block migrants trying to cross from Mexico. immigration.
In a 2-1 decisionthe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans has denied a request by the governor’s office to overturn a federal judge’s earlier finding that the barriers were illegal.
The decision came after months of legal wrangling between Governor Abbott’s office and the federal government. The previous judge had ordered the state to remove the barrier, saying it was an obstacle to navigation on the river and a “threat to human life” for those trying to cross. The appeals court had issued an order temporarily keeping the shackles in place while the complex legal issues were resolved in court.
Still, more appeals are possible: Texas’ governor has said his office was prepared to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
For more than two years, Mr. Abbott has been testing the legal limits of what a state can do to enforce immigration law, an issue that has historically been under the jurisdiction of the federal government. In a letter to President Biden last summer, Mr. Abbott said the state has the legal right to erect a barrier along the border, in part because of a clause in the U.S. Constitution that deals with state powers during an “invasion.”
The Justice Department responded with a lawsuit arguing that the barrier violated a federal law that prohibits construction in navigable waterways without federal approval. The lawsuit cited part of a federal law, the Act on the Expropriation of Rivers and Ports, which deals with federal jurisdiction over navigable waterways. The Justice Department has also pushed back on Mr. Abbott’s claim that he has the right to declare a migrant invasion, adding that only the federal government can make such a decision.
Mr. Abbott’s lawyers have argued that the barriers — about 1,000 feet of floating orange buoys — were needed near the banks of the river next to the town of Eagle Pass to prevent a “border security disaster” and turn away a growing number of refugees to be scared. illegal crossings, according to court files. They have also said there is no evidence that the buoys “interfere with any navigable capacity of the river.”
The judge who initially ruled against the state ruled that the federal government would likely review the merits of the case when there was a full trial.
Last month, Texas lawmakers passed a sweeping law that makes it a state-level crime to enter Texas from Mexico without permission. Mr. Abbott was expected to sign the bill, one he championed as part of a sharp escalation of his multibillion-dollar border security program known as Operation Lone Star. The Texas House also approved another $1.5 billion for the state to use to build its own barriers near the international border.
Democrats have criticized the law as inhumane. And on Friday, critics of Mr. Abbott’s immigration initiatives cheered the court’s new ruling. Joaquin Castro, a congressman from San Antonio, said in a statement that he looked forward to the day when the barriers would disappear.
“I have seen Governor Abbott’s border buoys firsthand. They are illegal and dangerous,” Mr. Castro said. “I applaud the Department of Justice for today’s hard-fought victory in the conservative Fifth Circuit and look forward to seeing these death traps removed from the Rio Grande.”
Neither the governor’s office nor the attorney general’s office had immediate comment on the ruling.