Texas’ floating Rio Grande barrier can stay for now, court rules as larger legal battle persists
Austin, Texas — A floating barrier in the Rio Grande intended to discourage migrants from crossing the border into Texas from Mexico can remain in place for now, a full federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier ruling by a panel of the court. The ruling is the latest development in a standoff between Texas and President Joe Biden’s administration over immigration at the state’s 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) border with Mexico.
In December, a divided panel of the 5th Circuit sided with a federal district judge in Texas who said the shackles should be moved. The full appeals court said Tuesday that the court abused its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction.
The broader lawsuit in district court is scheduled for trial beginning Aug. 6, with the Biden administration accusing Texas of violating the federal Rivers and Harbors Act. Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta said Texas “has violated federal law” and risks harming U.S. foreign policy.
The series of linked buoys anchored in concrete stretches about the length of three football fields in one of the busiest hotspots for illegal border crossings. The state installed them along the international border with Mexico between the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
The Ministry of Justice had requested a federal court will order texas to remove the shacklesand said the flood barrier poses humanitarian and environmental concerns along the international border. Abbott dismissed the lawsuit because he is encouraged by conservative allies eager to pursue cases that would allow states to take more aggressive immigration measures.
The barrier is a flashpoint in legal disputes over border enforcement between Democratic President Joe Biden and Abbott. The Biden administration is also fighting for the right to cut through razor wire fencing at the border and for access to a city park on the border that has been cordoned off by the state.