US DOJ Sues Texas Over Floating Barrier in Rio Grande

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Facts

  • The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas on Monday over its use of floating barriers in the Rio Grande. The barriers are reportedly being used to deter migrants from crossing into the state from Mexico.1
  • The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of the Texas US District Court, requests the judge compel the state to remove the structure at its own expense, on the grounds that it was built in US water without permission from the US Army Corps of Engineers.1
  • The news comes hours after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to comply with the DOJ-imposed Monday deadline to commit to removing the buoys, as he accused the Biden admin. of violating his constitutional duty to protect the US against invasion.2
  • This legal action was preceded by a diplomatic complaint about the wall of buoys from the Mexican government, as well as a lawsuit filed by a local kayaking business.3
  • The 1K-foot (305-meter) barrier near Eagle Pass — part of a Border Patrol sector which has seen the second-highest number of migrants crossing this fiscal year — is the latest escalation of Texas' Operation Lone Star, a multi-billion-dollar response to the surge at the border.4
  • Texas claims that over 394K illegal immigrants have been detained and over 31K criminal arrests made since the operation was first launched in March 2021.5

Sources: 1CNN, 2Forbes, 3The Texas Tribune, 4FOX 26 Houston, and 5BBC News.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Atlantic. Texas and other red states are employing extreme tactics against undocumented migrants trying to cross the border but they aren't allowed to violate federal law, as Abbott did by building this floating barrier. Such measures are challenging the legal limits on states' ability to infringe on federal authority over immigration and creating a dangerous split within the US reminiscent of the pre-Civil War era.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by The Center Square. It's outrageous that the Biden admin., which has failed to address the tragic humanitarian crisis on the border, is attempting to reverse lawful efforts to secure the southern border. Under the US Constitution, Texas has the sovereign authority to take action, meaning it can deploy every strategy to protect Texans, Americans, and migrants who are risking their own lives.

Predictions