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Biden administration sues Abbott over buoy border in Rio Grande

Migrants walk past the site where workers are assembling large buoys to be used as a border barrier along the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass , Texas, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The floating barrier is being deployed in an effort to block migrants from entering Texas from Mexico. (AP/Eric Gay)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department sued Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday over a floating barrier that the state placed on the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

The lawsuit asks a court to force Texas to remove a roughly 1,000-foot (305-meter) line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys that the Biden administration says raises humanitarian and environmental concerns. The suit also claims that Texas unlawfully installed the barrier without permission near the border city of Eagle Pass.


“President Biden’s border enforcement plan has led to the lowest levels of unlawful border crossings in over two years. Governor Abbott’s dangerous and unlawful actions are undermining that effective plan, making it hard for the men and women of Border Patrol to do their jobs of securing the border, and putting migrants and border agents in danger,” White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan said regarding the lawsuit.

The buoys are the latest escalation of Texas’ border security operation that also includes razor-wire fencing, arresting migrants on trespassing charges and sending busloads of asylum-seekers to Democratic-led cities in other states.

In anticipation of the lawsuit, Abbott sent President Joe Biden a letter Monday that defended Texas’ right to install the barrier. He accused Biden of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from making the journey to the U.S.

“Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused,” the governor wrote, addressing his response to President Joe Biden. “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”

The Biden administration has said illegal border crossings have declined significantly since new immigration rules took effect in May.

“If Governor Abbott truly wanted to drive toward real solutions, he’d be asking his Republican colleagues in Congress why they voted against President Biden’s request to increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security and why they’re blocking the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures that would finally fix our broken immigration system,” the White House said Monday.

In a letter last week, the Justice Department gave Texas until Monday to commit to removing the barrier or face a lawsuit. The letter said the buoy wall “poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety, in the Rio Grande River, and it presents humanitarian concerns.”

The state deployed the buoys without notifying the International Boundary and Water Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mexico’s secretary of state asked the federal government to intervene, saying the barrier violates international treaties.