A U.S. judge ordered Texas to move floating buoys that were placed in the middle of the Rio Grande to block migrants from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, a tentative win for President Joe Biden, whose administration sued the state.
U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction in Austin that requires Texas to relocate the buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river. The Biden administrationthat the barrier illegally disrupts navigation and was installed without permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The ruling is a setback for Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who contends that Biden, a Democrat, has been too lenient with border security as record numbers of migrants have been caught crossing illegally in recent years. The floating barrier is one of multiple strategies Abbott has launched to deter migrants, including coils of razor wire placed along the riverbank.
"Governor Abbott announced that he was not 'asking for permission' for Operation Lone Star, the anti-immigration program under which Texas constructed the floating barrier," Ezra wrote in a 42-page order. "Unfortunately for Texas, permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Judge orders Texas to remove border buoys from Rio Grande, rejects Abbott ‘invasion’ claimTexas must remove floating border buoys by Friday, Sept. 15 and cannot install any similar structures in the Rio Grande without receiving proper approval, a...
Read more »
Judge orders Texas to move floating barrier off Rio Grande to riverbankA federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas to move a large floating barrier to the riverbank ofthe Rio Grande after protests from the the U.S. and Mexican governments over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest tactic to stop migrants from crossing America’s southern border.
Read more »
Judge orders Texas to remove floating border barriers, granting Biden administration requestEarlier this month, Texas repositioned the buoys closer to American soil after federal officials concluded that roughly 80% of the barriers were in Mexico.
Read more »
Ken Paxton impeachment: Texas Senate begins trial of suspended Texas Attorney GeneralWATCH: Texas Senate begins impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Read more »