The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott after the state’s leader on Monday said he won’t remove the floating barriers or a razor wire fence he installed to deter immigration across the Rio Grande, ignoring a DOJ-imposed deadline that promised legal action.
Watch your step: Migrants walk between concertina wire and a string of buoys placed on the water ... [+]
The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas U.S. District Court, asks a judge to force Abbott to remove the existing buoys (and pay for it) and forbid him from installing any additional barriers in the river.
The action by the Justice Department comes after a letter penned by the governor Monday morning in which Abbott accused President Joe Biden of violating his “constitutional obligation to defend the States against invasion” and said if he would “just enforce the immigration laws Congress already has on the books, America would not be suffering from your record-breaking level of illegal immigration.”
The Department of Justice says in its filing that it is illegal for Abbott to install anything that impacts the "navigable capacity of any of the waters of the United States" without the permission of Congress.
In a Twitter thread Friday afternoon, Abbott responded to the DOJ’s initial threat of a lawsuit and said, “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border,” and added in a later tweet, “We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans—and the migrants risking their lives. We will see you in court, Mr. President.”
At least one local business owner has sued Abbott and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Mexico’s government has said the border violates international agreements, and the DOJ has said the barrier not only violates federal law but also raises “humanitarian concerns,” according to a letter obtained by CNN.
The lawsuit says that Abbott did not consult the federal government before installing the wiring or buoys.
Wretched refuse 2.0: Migrants seeking asylum walk through an island while attempting to cross the ... [+]
The floating barriers in the Rio Grande, and a new razor wire fence in the area, is the latest effort by the governor to physically enforce the U.S.-Mexico border and deter migrants. Abbott’s border policies have been dubbed Operation Lone Star. The buoys, announced by Abbott in June, are 4 feet in diameter and look like large orange balls that are impossible to scale from the water. The buoys were installed in a 1,000-foot segment of the river, but Abbott said more could be added if they're successful in deterring border crossings. Migrants, including children, have been left cut and bloody by the razor wire at the Texas shoreline, USA Today reported, adding that many have arrived in the U.S. with lacerations and open wounds. Eighty-seven Democrats asked Biden to intervene in Texas’ border practices in a letter Friday, per Politico, and eight members of Congress from Texas sent a letter to the DOJ on July 13 calling the buoys a “dangerous stunt that prioritizes political posturing over the safety and well-being of both Texans and migrants.”
“If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws, Abbott said in his letter to Biden Monday. “By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande.”
- That's how many migrant bodies were recovered by federal officials along the Mexican border in fiscal year 2022, which ended September 30, according to the Wall Street Journal. A record 2.2 million migrants were arrested along the border, per WSJ.
Texas Will Block Migrants In Rio Grande Using Wall Of Buoys, Gov. Abbott Says (Forbes)