The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott and demanded the removal of a floating barrier that was installed across the Rio Grande.
“We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said Monday in a news release about the lawsuit. “This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns. Additionally, the presence of the floating barrier has prompted diplomatic protests by Mexico and risks damaging U.S. foreign policy.”
The complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, is also seeking an injunction to prevent Texas from placing additional floating barriers in the river. It argued that it “is an obstruction to the navigable capacity of the Rio Grande, a navigable water of the United States,” and that the defendants didn’t “obtain a Corps permit or otherwise obtain the Corps’ permission for the construction, installation, or placement of the Floating Barrier in the Rio Grande as required.”
Last week, the Biden administration argued that Texas can avoid a lawsuit if the state agreed to remove the buoy barriers. But on Monday, Mr. Abbott defended his actions and welcomed a legal battle.
He and other officials have argued that the buoys were placed in the Rio Grande to prevent more drowning deaths among illegal immigrants trying to cross into the United States, while also disputing the DOJ’s argument that the buoys violate the Rivers and Harbors Act.
“Neither of us wants to see another death in the Rio Grande River,” Mr. Abbott wrote. “Yet your open-border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives by crossing illegally through the water, instead of safely and legally at a port of entry. Nobody drowns on a bridge.”
The barrier at the center of the legal fight is located near Eagle Pass, Texas, and was installed as part of Mr. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star plan that he says addresses illegal immigration in the state.
Around the Fourth of July holiday, four people, including an infant, drowned near Eagle Pass as they attempted to cross the Rio Grande, officials said.
The federal International Boundary and Water Commission, whose jurisdiction includes boundary demarcation and overseeing U.S.–Mexico treaties, said it didn’t get a heads-up from Texas about the floating barrier.
“We are studying what Texas is publicly proposing to determine whether and how this impacts our mission to carry out treaties between the U.S. and Mexico regarding border delineation, flood control, and water distribution, which includes the Rio Grande,” Frank Fisher, a spokesperson for the commission, said in a statement.
Border crossing dynamics shifted in May after the Biden administration stopped implementing Title 42, a pandemic-era public health policy that turned away many illegal immigrants. New rules allowed people to seek asylum through a government application and set up appointments at the ports of entry, though the maximum allowed in per day is set at 1,450. The Texas governor’s policies target the many who are frustrated with the cap and cross illegally through the river.
Several days ago, about 90 Democrats in the House called on the Biden administration to take action against Texas over the Rio Grande barrier was set up, claiming there were reports of injuries and drownings.
Mexico’s government previously filed a complaint and claimed that Mr. Abbott’s deployment of buoys is a violation of water treaties between the United States and Mexico. Mexico’s incoming secretary of foreign affairs, Alicia Bárcena, told Reuters that a diplomatic letter of complaint was submitted in late June.
Earlier iterations of Abbott’s border mission have included installing miles of wire at popular crossing points on the river and creating state checkpoints beyond federal stops to inspect incoming commercial traffic.
