Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday defended the legality of the floating barriers state officials recently set up along the US-Mexico border to repel migrant crossings, defying the Biden administration’s threat to sue the state over the river buoys.
Last week, the top lawyers at the Department of Justice Find out more Abbott and other Texas officials that the administration would file a lawsuit against the state unless it removed the barriers it deployed in the middle of the Rio Grande. The Biden administration argued that the river barriers violate a federal navigable waters law, pose humanitarian challenges and prevent federal law enforcement from apprehending migrants.
But in a letter On Monday, in front of President Biden and other senior administration officials, Abbott, a Republican, appeared to welcome a legal battle, arguing that Texas was using its “constitutional authority” to combat unauthorized border crossings.
“Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott wrote.
Hours after Abbott released his response, the Justice Department filed his lawsuitasking federal court in Austin to compel state officials to remove the buoys and prevent them from creating similar structures.
The river buoys assembled earlier this month by Texas have drawn renewed criticism of the state’s broader border initiative, known as Operation Lone Star. As part of the operation, Abbott has transported thousands of migrants to major Democratic-led cities, ordered state troopers to arrest migrants accused of trespassing and deployed members of the Texas National Guard to repel migrants through barbed wire and other means.
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A Texas soldier recently alarming allegations about the state operation, detailing reports of migrants, including children and a pregnant woman, being slashed by the razor and directives to withhold water from the migrants and push them into the Rio Grande. Texas officials are investigating the allegations, but have denied orders to deny migrants water or push them into the river.
State police also urged top officials to remove the floating barriers, saying the structures force migrants to cross into the United States through parts of the Rio Grande where they are more likely to drown.
In his letter Monday, Abbott denied the Justice Department’s argument that the river buoys violate the Rivers and Harbors Act. But he called it “a side issue.”
“The fact is, if you only enforced the immigration laws that Congress already has on the books, America would not be suffering from your record level of illegal immigration,” Abbott wrote.
The White House has called Abbott’s actions “cruel” and counterproductive, saying the river barriers have increased the risk of migrants drowning and prevented Border Patrol agents from patrolling the river. The Justice Department has also been reviewing reports of Texas officials mistreating migrants.
“While I share the humanitarian concerns noted in your lawyers’ letter, Mr. President, your finger is pointing in the wrong direction,” Abbott said in his response. “None of us want to see another death in the Rio Grande River. Yet your open border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives crossing the water illegally, instead of doing so safely and legally at a port of entry. No one drowns on a bridge.”
Officials in the Biden administration have sought to mitigate Abbott’s criticism by pointing to the dramatic decline in illegal entries along the southern border in recent weeks. Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants who entered the United States illegally fell below 100,000 in June, the lowest level in two years.
The administration has said the drop in illegal crossings stems from its revamped border strategy, which combines programs that allow tens of thousands of migrants to enter the US legally each month with tougher penalties and stricter asylum rules for those who enter the country illegally.
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