The state of Texas wanted to use a buoy wall in a border river to act against migrants. However, a court has now ordered the removal of the barrier. The US government had previously sued.
The US state of Texas is to remove a controversial floating barrier in the US-Mexico border river Rio Grande, according to a court order. A federal judge in the Texas city of Austin ordered the removal of the barrier by mid-September, as the television networks CBS and CNN unanimously reported.
The US government had filed a civil lawsuit against Texas for failing to obtain Washington approval for the barrier. In addition, this represents a threat to shipping and public safety, argued the US government.
Judge doubts effectiveness
A few weeks ago, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, arranged for the approximately 300-meter-long barrier made of numerous buoys, each more than one meter in diameter, to be placed in the river. Barbed wire was laid along the shore. According to Abbott, this should prevent migrants from swimming across the Rio Grande to get to the United States.
In its judgment, the court questioned the effectiveness of the barrier. The state failed to provide “credible evidence that the buoy barrier, in its current form, significantly curbed illegal immigration,” the judge wrote.
Texas authorities said they would appeal the verdict. “Today’s court decision merely extends President Biden’s willful refusal to recognize that Texas is rightly taking on the task that he should have done all along,” Abbott said.
Mexico submitted protest notes
The US government welcomed the verdict. “We are pleased that the court ruled that the lockdown was unlawful and irreparably impacted diplomatic relations, public safety, shipping and the work of federal agencies in and around the Rio Grande,” said Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
Mexico’s government had previously submitted two diplomatic protest notes – among other things because the barrier violates Mexico’s sovereignty, violates bilateral and international treaties and endangers the personal safety of migrants. A dead person was discovered on the floating buoys in early August.