According to reports, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Texas over its implementation of a border barrier in the Rio Grande consisting of floating buoys.
Last week, in a letter sent to Governor Greg Abbott, the DOJ revealed its plan for a lawsuit. On Monday afternoon, the case was submitted to a federal court in Texas.
The Department of Justice filed an action against the state because the barrier limits the navigable ability of the waters of the United States. The agency pointed out that the barrier was erected by Texas authorities without the federal government’s approval to ensure public and environmental safety.
Abbott first announced the barrier in June, and the orange buoys were placed in the water in July. Operation Lone Star, which involves the use of floating buoys, is an attempt to rein in the border issue in the face of historically high numbers of illegal migrants.
According to the DOJ complaint, federal authorities have already informed Texas authorities that the obstacle is illegal.
Officials in Texas have defended the wall by saying it saves lives by discouraging the risky endeavor of migrants crossing the border.
According to Steve McCraw, head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, each time migrants enter that water, they put themselves in danger. The buoys serve as an effective disincentive to entering the river.
In a written answer to President Joe Biden, the Texas Governor wrote that while he shared the humanitarian concerns raised in the attorneys’ letter, his administration was pointing fingers in the wrong direction. He hoped that no one else had to perish in the Rio Grande. But Biden’s open-border policies push people toward more dangerous and illegal methods of crossing the border instead of using a legal port of entry. No one has ever drowned on a bridge.
Abbott wrote that U.S. rules against illegal immigration must be strictly enforced if the danger of injury to migrants crossing the border unlawfully is to be eliminated. Until that happens, Texas will employ all the power it has under The Constitution to grapple with the problem “you have caused.”
