Justice Department Sues Texas over Floating Barrier Meant to Deter Migrants from Crossing Rio Grande

The Justice Department sued the state of Texas on Monday afternoon over the floating barrier the state installed in the middle of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing.

The DOJ is asking a court to order Texas to remove the 1,000-foot stretch of buoys that has been installed near Eagle Pass, Texas. It is also seeking an injunction to bar Texas from installing new floating barriers.

Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter warning Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) to expeditiously remove the barrier or face legal action.

Abbott responded in a letter addressed to the president: “If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws. . . . In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused.”

“We will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott added.

The DOJ asserted in its filing that Texas did not have authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers to install the barrier.

“Because Texas installed the Floating Barrier without seeking the Corps’ authorization, the Corps and other relevant federal agencies were deprived of the opportunity to evaluate risks the barrier poses to public safety and the environment, mitigate those risks as necessary through the permitting process, and otherwise evaluate whether the project is in the public interest,” read the filing.

Justice also argued that the structures in question “constitute an unauthorized obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States in violation of [the Rivers and Harbors Act] section 10.”

According to associate attorney general Vanita Gupta, the barrier poses threats to navigation and presents humanitarian concerns.

“Additionally, the presence of the floating barrier has prompted diplomatic protests by Mexico and risks damaging U.S. foreign policy,” Gupta explained.

In his letter to the president, Abbott explained: “In accordance with Article I, § 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, I have asserted Texas’s ‘sovereign interest in protecting [her] borders.’…I have done so in my role as the commander-in-chief of our State’s militia under Article IV, § 7 of the Texas Constitution.”

The Texas governor added that the claim from Justice that the state is in violation of Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act “misses the mark.”

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.