Texas must remove floating barrier in Rio Grande, court rules
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court in saying Texas must remove the floating border barrier on the Rio Grande.
The opinion came down earlier today by the three-judge panel.
The fight over what Texas can and cannot do on the border is likely heading to the Supreme Court.
While the Fifth Circuit is very conservative, the panel that made the ruling had two Democrat-appointed judges and one Republican who wrote the dissenting opinion.
Gov. Greg Abbott faced backlash from some after Operation Lone Star installed a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande.
The border buoys are very limited at this point, spanning only a couple of football fields in length in the river, but Abbott told reporters there's funding and a plan to create miles of floating barrier.
Like many of the border security issues, this one comes down to a matter of state versus federal authority.
The federal government said the barrier violated the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, but an attorney for the state argued the law only applies to navigable rivers.
Department of Justice sues Texas over floating border barrier in the Rio Grande
Governor Greg Abbott told President Joe Biden in a letter Monday that Texas will not remove the floating border barrier in the Rio Grande. Now, the Department of Justice is suing the state of Texas.
The stretch of the Rio Grande that's been debated is no more than four feet deep, according to the state.
"First, Texas obstructed the river's navigable capacity without congressional authorization. Second, they built a boon or other structure in the river without a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers," said Michael Gray with the U.S. Department of Justice at a hearing in October.
"The undisputed testimony is these buoys are temporary. They're designed to be tactical and moved," said Lanora Pettit, the Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the Office of the Attorney General in Texas.
Gov. Abbott released a statement shortly after the ruling, calling the decision "clearly wrong."
The governor said he and Attorney General Paxton will seek a rehearing by the full Court of Appeals.
"We'll go to SCOTUS if needed to protect Texas from Biden's open borders," Abbott said.
State officials said it could take week for the barrier to be removed.