Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott refuses to remove the buoy barrier his state administration installed over the waters of the Rio Grande. The measure went into effect during the border crisis to prevent migrants from crossing the waters off the river to reach the U.S. border.
The Biden administration ordered Abbott to take down the water barrier made of floating buoys. Abbott refuses to do so and has the backing of Texas' constitution which he will use to take appropriate action to address the crisis "provoked" by the Democratic administration.
Today, I sent President Biden a letter responding to his Justice Department's threat to sue Texas for deploying marine barriers on the Rio Grande.
Texas will fully utilize our sovereign authority to respond to the border crisis @POTUS created.
More: https://t.co/fJn6oih4iQ pic.twitter.com/uRXc6GXvkL
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) July 24, 2023
In a public statement, Abbott accused the Biden administration of encouraging illegal immigrants to enter through the southern border. He claims that threats from the Department of Justice (DOJ) do not strip him of his authority to protect Texas' borders.
If you truly care about human lives, you must start enforcing federal immigration laws," Abbott wrote. "By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from risking their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande. They can also help me save Texans, and indeed all Americans, from deadly drugs like fentanyl, cartel violence and the horrors of human trafficking.
Abbott's response comes after the DOJ sent Abbott a warning about his intentions to take legal action against Texas for the use of buoys in the passage known as the Eagle Pass. According to DOJ sources consulted by the Washington Examiner, the use of buoys at the border violates a section of the River and Harbors Act.
That section states that "the creation of any obstruction not affirmatively authorized by Congress to the navigable capacity of any waters of the United States is hereby prohibited." Elle involves "piers, wharves, jetties, docks, breakwaters, bulkheads, jetties, breakwaters, breakwaters, bulkheads, jetties or other structures." However, it is questionable whether this stretch of the Rio Grande is navigable, and therefore whether the navigability is altered by the presence of the buoy barrier.
Back out in #EaglePass, this evening, @TxDPS encountered a group of illegal immigrants from Venezuela & Guatemala who crossed the Rio Grande. I asked them why they cross the Rio Grande & not go to a port of entry to seek asylum or use the #CBPOne app. They responded that the app… pic.twitter.com/BgphDYOJo7
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) July 24, 2023
The DOJ is not alone in using the law against buoys. Mexico issued similar threats. The Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs filed a formal complaint regarding the presence of the buoys, which she said are a violation of the 1944 Water Treaty between Mexico and the United States, which prohibits the use of the Rio Grande's waters.
A canoe and kayak company also sued the Abbott administration over the presence of the barriers in the river. It argued that it was impossible to cross the river in small sports boats because of the buoys.
