Texas must remove a statewide floating barrier placed on the Rio Grande River to keep out illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Wednesday — but Gov. Greg Abbott wasted no time announcing he would appeal.
District Court Judge David Ezra ordered the destructive ball-sized buoy removed by next Friday and prohibited the Lone Star State from adding any other structures on the Rio Grande – the international border between the US and Mexico in Texas – without prior approval from the feds.
Shortly after the reigning Abbott Ezra issued a statement, vowing that “Texas will appeal.”
“This decision is incorrect and will be overturned upon appeal. We will continue to use every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety soldiers and installing strategic barriers,” the governor said.
The removal of the 1,000-foot marine barrier is part of a preliminary injunction, not a final decision in the federal lawsuit.
In July, the Justice Department sued Abbott, arguing he lacked the authority to order the placement of river buoys.
Texas has until Sept. 15 to remove a controversial river border barrier near Eagle Pass, Texas, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. AFP via Getty Images
The Republican governor never sought the necessary permission from the International Boundary and Water Commission to install the barrier, the federal agency that oversees the river told The Post in July.
Federal prosecutors argued the string of large orange buoys – intended to prevent asylum-seeking migrants from venturing into the waters of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas – was also a “threat to human life.”
A 1,000-foot-long sea barrier on the Rio Grande River aims to stop migrants crossing the water to the US in search of asylum.REUTERS
While no deaths have been directly linked to the buoys, the body of a migrant who drowned upstream and was caught in a barrier has been recovered from the notoriously dangerous waterway, state officials said.
“The buoy is a symbol of the hateful and inhumane policies held by Gav. Abbott as he continues to wage war on immigrants who want to find a better life for themselves, as millions of other immigrants have done for hundreds of years in this country,” said Carolina Canizales of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
The state agency responsible for installing the structure told The Post that anyone who wants to pass the buoy will have to swim under it.
The large orange buoys are intended to prevent anyone from crossing the river at all, the state of Texas told The Post.ZUMAPRESS.com
“The buoy goes down a foot below the water line, so anyone who wants to pass it has to swim at least that far,” said Texas Department of Public Safety Spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Post in July.
The judge’s injunction also said the obstruction impeded Border Patrol operations, including rescuing migrants from rivers, and jeopardized diplomatic relations with Mexico.
Buoys must remain on US river banks until a final decision can be made in a lawsuit pitting the state against the feds.ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA
America’s southern neighbor has demanded the buoy be removed from the Rio Grande, as Mexico controls about half of those waters. A recent study found that most of the buoys were originally placed in Mexican waters.
But none of the controversy has deterred Abbott, who has declared he is ready to take the case to the US Supreme Court.
“Today’s court ruling only extends President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas has the right to step up to do the job it should have been doing all along,” the three-term governor said.
“Our fight to defend Texas’ sovereign authority to protect lives from the chaos caused by President Biden’s open border policy has only just begun.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
