Texas Ordered To Remove Anti-Migrant Barrier In Rio Grande

A United States appeals court has ruled in a victory for President Joe Biden’s administration. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered Texas to remove its floating migrant barrier in the Rio Grande.

On Friday, the court in a 2-1 decision ordered Texas to remove a 1,000-foot-long floating barrier it placed in the Rio Grande river to stop illegal migrants from crossing the border with Mexico. 

The ruling comes as a setback to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has said that Texas is prepared to adopt various strategies to deter migrants from illegally crossing the border.

Texas requested the court to reverse a federal judge’s decision ordering the state to remove the barrier in the Rio Grande in July near Eagle Pass, Texas. The court declined the request in a 2-1 ruling on grounds that the anti-migrant barrier violated an 1899 federal ban on construction in the river without permission.

Texas arrests migrants

In recent months, Texas has arrested various illegal migrants crossing the Rio Grande on trespassing charges. Under Operation Lone Star, Texas state troopers pursue vehicles suspected of transporting illegal migrants to the border. The authorities put the migrants into a prison for weeks or months before turning them over to the Border Patrol.

Texas slammed for illegally placing anti-migrant barrier

The United States Department of Justice slammed Gregory Wayne Abbott over the installation of the anti-migrant barrier. In September, Texas was ordered to remove the floating barrier. Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra ordered Texas to remove the floating buoys from the Rio Grande to an embankment on the Texas side of the river. 

In July, a lawsuit against Texas was brought by the US Justice Department. The business owners in Eagle Pass, a city in Texas, also sued the state over the installation of an anti-migrant barrier.

The Biden administration said that the barrier was unlawfully blocking navigation and posed humanitarian concerns.

Texas placed the barrier in an attempt to prevent migrants from crossing the river.