Court Rules that Texas Can Maintain Floating Border Barriers

In the latest legal battle over the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-border policies, a federal court has ruled that the state of Texas can maintain its barrier of floating buoys that block off potential border crossings via the Rio Grande River.

As reported by Breitbart, the Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas over Governor Greg Abbott’s (R-Texas) decision to set up the buoy barrier, arguing that the move constituted a violation of the federal government’s sole responsibility for maintaining the border.

A letter sent to Governor Abbott’s office, signed by Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza, claimed that the barrier was installed without first being approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The letter also claimed that the barrier is in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act, as it allegedly creates a hazard to vessels trying to navigate the river.

Following a lower court’s preliminary injunction and a subsequent en banc appeal, a majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the lower court’s ruling and determined that “the district court clearly erred in finding that the United States will likely prove that the barrier is in a navigable stretch of the Rio Grande.”

“We cannot square the district court’s findings and conclusions with over a century’s worth of precedent,” the appeals court added.

After Joe Biden took power, he adhered to his promises on the campaign trail and shut down enforcement of basic security on the southern border, including halting any further construction of the border wall that began under President Donald Trump, and started allowing third-world illegal aliens to flood into the country unimpeded. In response, Governor Abbott began using state resources to set up impromptu barriers, including stacking giant shipping containers alongside each other on the land border, and setting up giant buoy barriers on the river border.

As a result of the ruling, the case will now go back to the lower court in the Western District of Texas, with a trial scheduled for August 6th in Austin, Texas. The trial is USA v. Greg Abbott, No. 23-50632, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.