Texas Must Take Down Greg Abbot's Controversial Floating Barriers Along Rio Grande, Rules Appeals Court

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's controversial floating barriers designed to deter migrants from crossing the Rio Grande were found to be unlawful by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday and ordered the state government to take them down, thus affirming a previous ruling by a lower court.

Abbott ordered these controversial floating barriers be placed in the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass last summer, having caused several controversies, including a diplomatic complaint from Mexico, criticism from Joe Biden, and several migrants dying as a result of drowning near these floating barriers.

According to the Texas Tribune, the decision to affirm the previous ruling was 2-1, as the Rio Grande must be navigable, and any obstruction placed along the river must receive permission from the US Army Corps of Engineers before being deployed.

Texas argued that the floating barriers would force migrants to cross the border at ports of entry where it is safer. However, Texas was not able to prove this, said one of the three judges, and it had previously been proven that the floating barriers were not able to deter migrants from trying to cross.

"At this stage, however, Texas has not offered concrete evidence that the barrier has saved lives or reduced illegal crossings and drug trafficking," wrote Judge Don Willett, a Trump appointee, in his opinion.

The Texas state government faced a lawsuit from the US Justice Department, which argued that the barrier was installed without required federal authorization. A lower court in San Antonio sided with the federal government, but Texas quickly appealed it. This ruling from the Court of Appeals affirmed the previous San Antonio ruling.

"It considered the threat to navigation and federal government operations on the Rio Grande, as well as the potential threat to human life the floating barrier created," wrote Judge Dana Douglas in the opinion affirming the previous decision.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Vows To Take Rio Grande Floating Barriers Case to Supreme Court

As for how Governor Greg Abbott reacted to the decision, he says that the Court of Appeals was "clearly wrong" in a statement on social media. The Texas Republican then vowed to take the case to the highest court in the land.

"We'll go to SCOTUS if needed to protect Texas from Biden's open borders," wrote Abbott on social media. This is the latest in a string of legal defeats regarding his draconian immigration policies as he previously failed to stop US Border Patrol agents from legally cutting razor wire the state installed along the riverbanks of the Rio Grande.

Much of the Rio Grande Floating Barrier Actually in Mexico's Side of the River

The floating barriers along the Rio Grande were originally part of Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, which includes busing migrants to large Democratic-led cities. However, soon after these barriers were installed, Mexico filed a diplomatic complaint and pointed out that 80% of the barriers were actually on the Mexican side of the river and were thus illegal.

Satellite imagery showed nearly 80% of the orange buoys crossing over to the Mexico side of the boundary and therefore breaking international law. These buoys are anchored to the riverbed to help deter migrants, and a joint US-Mexico topographical survey found that 787 feet of the barrier are crossing over, according to CBS News.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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