GOP Lawmaker Says Biden Admin Using Mussels as ‘Shell Game’ for Open Border Policies

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers ride past buoys while patrolling the Rio Grande along the international boundary of the United States and Mexico near Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 29, 2023. Adrees Latif/Reuters

A House Republican accused the Biden administration on Wednesday of playing “shell games” at the U.S.-Mexico border after the federal government proposed that two species of mussels be named as endangered species.

These specific mussels are found only in the area of Texas where state officials installed a floating barrier to deter illegal immigration through the Rio Grande.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said in a press release that the Biden administration is angling to remove the string of buoys put in the Rio Grande by Texas authorities.

On July 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its proposal to list as endangered the Mexican fawnsfoot and the Salina mucket mussel. One of these species, the Mexican fawnsfoot, is found today only in the area of Eagle Pass and some miles downstream toward the Gulf of Mexico, the agency said.

This is the area where Texas has installed the floating barrier.

The same day, the Justice Department sued Texas over the floating barrier.

“While Biden has failed to use federal powers to secure the border, he has no problem weaponizing the government to prevent states from doing so in his absence,” Mr. Arrington said.

Illegal Crossings at the Rio Grande

Illegal immigrants have been crossing the Rio Grande for years, yet the federal government only now wants to protect the mussel species, the congressman said.

“Where was Biden’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s concerns when millions of migrants trampled the mussel’s ‘critical habitat’ while illegally crossing the Rio Grande? Clearly, Biden is more concerned about disrupting the habitat of the Mexican mussels than disrupting the operations of Mexican cartels who are destroying the lives of Americans and migrants alike.”

Mr. Arrington defended Texas Gov. Greg Abbot’s decision to install the floating barrier, saying he has “the constitutional authority to secure the border and protect his citizens. He should pay no attention to Biden’s shell game.”

Illegal immigrants sit by concertina wire fence while waiting to be transported by U.S. law enforcement officers after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 24, 2023. Go Nakamura/Reuters

The federal government has been aware of the danger these mussel species may be facing since 1991, according to the Washington Examiner.

The Fish and Wildlife Service at that time had published a notice in the Federal Register saying it would review whether the invertebrates should be added to the list of endangered species (pdf).

Drone footage captured on July 30 showed migrants wading past miles of concertina wire in search of an entry point into the United States from Mexico to surrender to members of the Army National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers near Eagle Pass, Texas.

Texas authorities began installing the string of buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, in mid-July as part of Mr. Abbott’s initiative dubbed Operation Lone Star to deter illegal immigration.

Federal Versus State Government

The Justice Department sued Texas over the buoys, saying it had not obtained the required federal authorization. It also said the floating barrier poses “threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, seeks “to remove all structures and obstructions, including a floating barrier and all infrastructure related to the floating barrier, in the Rio Grande,” according to the court filing.

Illegal immigrants walk in the Rio Grande river between a floating fence and the river bank as they look for an opening on the concertina wire fence to land on U.S. soil in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 24, 2023. Go Nakamura/Reuters

Jaime Esparza, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, had threatened to take legal action in a letter sent to Mr. Abbott last week.

In response to the Justice Department’s legal warning, Mr. Abbott sent a letter to President Joe Biden, accusing him of failing to enforce immigration laws and causing a “record-breaking level of illegal immigration.”

Mr. Abbott, in an interview on Fox News, said the barriers have potentially prevented hundreds of thousands of people from entering the country illegally and argued the Biden administration’s lawsuit is based on an obscure statute.

“We believe we have the right to do so, and we will take this lawsuit all the way to the United States Supreme Court,” he said.

Mexico has also complained about the barrier, saying it violates a water treaty and may encroach on Mexican territory.

Mexico’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that there was a fatality at the floating border and that a body was found on the structure.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador thanked Mr. Biden for filing a lawsuit against Texas over the floating barrier.

Reuters contributed to this report.