Court Temporarily Allows Texas To Keep Floating Border Barriers

A U.S. Appeals Court has granted a temporary stay that will allow Texas to keep their floating buoy border barriers in place in the middle of the Rio Grande for now.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced in June that the state would begin construction on a string of floating barriers in the Rio Grande River designed to deter illegal aliens from crossing into the U.S. through the river.

“We’re securing the border at the border. What these buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from even getting to the border,” Abbott said during a press conference at the time.

While the Biden administration refuses to help Texas deal with the illegal immigration crisis that is causing significant harm to the state — especially to residents who live along the border — they also decided that Texas should not be allowed to try to prevent illegal immigration on its own. In July, the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to Abbott threatening a lawsuit if he did not remove the floating border barriers.

Abbott refused to comply, writing in a tweet: “Texas is stepping up to address this crisis. We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives. We will see you in court, Mr. President.”

However, senior U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra agreed with the Biden administration’s lawsuit — issuing an order on Wednesday that Texas had to remove the floating barriers in the Rio Grande.

“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,” Ezra wrote in his order, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Abbott issued a statement in response to the ruling, vowing to immediately appeal.

“This ruling is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal,” he wrote in the statement. “We will continue to utilize every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers.”

On Thursday, the U.S. Appeals court granted a temporary stay that will allow Texas to keep the barriers in place as court proceedings move forward.