Judge orders Texas to remove border buoys from Rio Grande, rejects Gov. Abbott's ‘invasion’ claim

AUSTIN — Texas must remove floating border buoys by Sept. 15 and cannot install any similar structures in the Rio Grande without receiving proper approval, a federal judge wrote Friday in a scathing ruling criticizing Gov. Greg Abbott for ignoring federal laws.

Federal Judge David Ezra of the Western District of Texas further wrote that the Justice Department will likely prevail in the civil suit filed against Abbott. The Justice Department argued that Texas violated a federal law that forbade unauthorized construction in navigable waterways.

Texas argued that the rules didn’t apply because they say the area of the river where the buoys are is too shallow to be considered navigable. The state also said it had a right to protect itself against a migrant “invasion.”

Ezra disagreed.

“The Court has found that the United States is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that Defendants have violated (the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899),” Ezra wrote Wednesday. “The Court also finds that Texas’s conduct irreparably harms the public safety, navigation, and the operations of federal agency officials in and around the Rio Grande.”

The injunction does not conclude the case filed by the Justice Department but only adds to the saga.

Spokespeople for Abbott and the Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to questions asking if they would comply with the order. Abbott previously boasted that Texas was not “asking for permission” when installing razor wire fencing along the border. Texas can also appeal the injunction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

DPS began laying them down on the River in Eagle Pass in early July. It was later revealed that 80% of the almost 1,000-foot buoy barrier had been placed in Mexican territory of the river. Texas quietly moved the buoys back over to U.S. property.

At an hours-long hearing last week, Ezra rejected Texas’ assertion that a migrant “invasion” gave the state broad latitude to install the buoys without seeking proper authorization from the federal government. Ezra, a judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said the case has to do with whether or not the buoys impede navigation along the Rio Grande.

But in closing arguments Texas filed last week, attorneys representing the state said the Justice Department had failed to prove the buoys obstruct navigability.

“And even if there were such evidence, Texas has clear constitutional authority to defend its territory against the invasion that Governor Abbott has declared,” the state said in the 12-page filing.

Abbott has remained defiant ever since the Justice Department filed the lawsuit. He went on Fox News and said he is willing to appeal the lawsuit to the Supreme Court. And a few weeks later, he said he wants the Justices to grant states more leeway on immigration enforcement — which courts have ruled is the job of the federal government.

The buoys, however, have drawn international condemnation and scorn from Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden. Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena has sent three formal protests to the United States since late June complaining about the buoys.

Bárcena has also relayed the demands directly to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in meetings early last month. Mexican officials believe the buoys violate international treaties signed between the two countries.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has also repeatedly complained about the buoys in his daily press conferences and has called Abbott’s actions at the border “inhumane.” He has also said he would not meet with Abbott in the future.