Floating border wall can stay along Texas border, court rules
The controversial floating border barrier will stay in the middle of the Rio Grande — at least for a few more weeks.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the buoys can stay, going against a district judge’s ruling to remove them this week.
The latest saga in Texas' legal fight with the federal government is over the floating border barrier in the Rio Grande.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the lower court’s ruling that Texas remove the barrier.
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Department of Justice plans to sue Texas over floating border wall
The Department of Justice plans to sue the state of Texas over newly installed floating barriers at the border.
Constitutional lawyer David Coale says the barrier issue could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
"There's an argument that the federal government has exclusive authority over everything about immigration because it just has to have a country has to work," he said. "But at the same time, everybody recognizes that states have what is called a police power. They have a general ability to regulate and maintain public order and public health."
While the fight on the water continues, Operation Lone Star is moving forward with a new issue on land.
Last week, the Texas General Land Office gave law enforcement permission to take over a small patch of scrubland known as Fronton Island. It is along the Rio Grande.
DPS told FOX 4 the area is being used by the cartel to move guns and drugs.
Next month, DPS says it will move in, clear the land and add officers to patrol. They’ve already made arrests in the area. Officers found ammunition and an explosive device over the Labor Day weekend.
Coale says this specific issue is less controversial.
"The state has the power to enforce its own laws within its own borders. Everybody agrees on that. But time and time again, when these things surface and something goes to court, it sure looks like something that involves foreign policy, immigration policy," he said. "So the general idea is a perfectly sound one, but keeps getting implemented in ways that bang up against things the federal government has traditionally exclusively regulated."
Elsewhere, the problem of human smuggling is also still evident.
Last week near Eagle Pass, DPS chased a driver from San Antonio accused of carrying illegal immigrants in a pickup. He was arrested after crashing through a ranch fence and trying to escape.
There is also progress with Texas building its own privately funded border wall.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday posted a video of a new section in Del Rio. The state has been working with landowners for permission to build on their property.
Oral arguments in reference to the floating barrier will be on Oct. 5.