Texas scored a major legal victory in its ongoing battle with the Biden administration over immigration enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border: A U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday that the state can keep a 1,000-foot-long floating wall on the Rio Grande River, rejecting the Biden administration's attempt to remove the structure.
“The ruling was released by the court on Tuesday night but appears to have been removed shortly thereafter,” The Texas Tribune reported, adding that the case will be heard in a district court soon, which will rule on the validity of the Biden administration's claims.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott praised the court's decision, saying:
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last night handed Texas a victory for its historic border security mission, ruling that its floating sea barriers on the Rio Grande River can remain in place. Last year, Texas erected these barriers to stop dangerous and illegal river crossings, but almost immediately, the Biden-Harris Administration sued to remove them and thwart border security efforts. We fought to keep these barriers in the water, and the Fifth Circuit's decision means they will remain there, right in the water. The fight is far from over. Texas will continue to defend its constitutional right to protect its southern border to protect the security of our state and nation.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to “continue to defend Texas' right to secure our borders from illegal immigration.”
Department of Justice complaint
In July 2023, Texas erected a floating barrier made of buoys the size of shipwrecking balls in shallow waters of the Rio Grande River as part of Governor Abbott's Operation Lone Star, a program aimed at preventing migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border that began in March 2021. The Biden Administration responded swiftly, filing a lawsuit against Texas on July 24, 2023, alleging that Texas unlawfully erected the barrier without federal approval, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), representing the Biden administration, argued that the barriers “pose significant public safety and environmental risks and could impede the federal government's ability to carry out its official duties.”
House Democrats and Abbott's critics, who urged President Biden to end the border patrols in Texas, lamented that the buoys “put asylum seekers at serious risk of injury or death, impede federal immigration enforcement, violate private property rights, and violate U.S. treaty obligations with Mexico.”
Abbott's Defense
Abbott defended the measures as a necessary response to a border crisis caused by the Biden administration's open border policies.
“Under your watch, immigrants have been subjected to an unprecedented inhumane crisis,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Joe Biden in response to the lawsuit. “If you truly value human life, you must begin enforcing our federal immigration laws.”
The governor added that he acted as “commander in chief of the state militia” when he ordered the barriers erected. He said the barriers are intended to direct migrants to legal points of entry and to prevent illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.
According to the Tribune, state lawyers argued in court that the barrier is not a structure that requires a federal permit, and that Texas followed proper procedures, including notifying an international commission that monitors the Rio Grande, before erecting the barrier.
In April 2024, U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction requiring Texas to relocate the wall, a decision that was overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing Texas to keep the wall while the legal process continued.
How the buoy works
The floating barrier consists of large, heavy buoys tethered to the riverbed. The design is intended to make it difficult for people to swim across the river at this point. The buoys are positioned in a way that makes them nearly insurmountable, and act as a physical deterrent to migrants attempting to cross the river illegally.
Texas has installed buoys near Eagle Pass, Texas, a known hotspot for illegal border crossings, and across from Piedras Negras, Mexico.
Workplace Enforcement
Governor Abbott told Fox News in April that he had seen a significant drop in the number of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. through the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, saying Operation Lone Star had reduced the numbers from thousands a day to just a few.
He also noted that although Texas accounts for more than two-thirds of the US-Mexico border, it has seen fewer illegal crossings recently than other border states.
Legal and political implications
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision is a setback for the Biden administration and a victory for Texas officials who have been on the front lines of the legal battle with the federal government over immigration policy.
But the legal battle is far from over. The government's lawsuit against Texas is still ongoing and is scheduled to go to trial next week. The outcome of the case could have significant implications on the balance of power between state and federal governments in creating and enforcing immigration policy.
The administration is also engaged in legal battles with other Republican-led states, including Iowa and Oklahoma, over efforts to enforce state-level immigration laws that it says are inconsistent with federal authority.
Politically, this development poses further challenges for Vice President Kamala Harris (the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee), who has served as the administration's “border czar” since March 2021. The situation is likely to increase scrutiny of her role and effectiveness in addressing border-related issues that are of great importance to American voters.
