The US state of Texas has erected a barrier on the Rio Grande. It is designed to discourage migrants from crossing the border. The US Department of Justice has now initiated legal action.
In the US state of Texas, migrants are prevented from entering the United States with a floating barrier on the Rio Grande. The US government considers this to be problematic from a humanitarian and environmental point of view and has sued the Texan governor Greg Abbott.
A federal court should force Texas to remove the nearly 1,000-foot-long chain of orange buoys, the lawsuit said. The barrier is problematic in humanitarian and environmental terms. Texas also erected the buoy wall without first obtaining consent from the border towns of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras in Mexico.
Ultimatum expired on Monday
Last week, the Department of Justice sent the state of Texas an ultimatum in a letter: Abbott must commit to removing the barrier in the Rio Grande by Monday or face a lawsuit. The buoy wall poses a risk to shipping and public safety, the ministry argued.
Texas had erected the barrier without notifying the so-called International Boundary and Water Commission or the US Army Corps of Engineers in advance – a command of the US Army that takes care of civil engineering. Government spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Abbott’s policy is making it difficult for Border Patrol officers to enter the Rio Grande. She said the illegal actions were unhelpful and undermined what President Joe Biden was trying to do.
Mexico’s government also got involved and asked US federal authorities to intervene. The barrier violated international treaties, sources in Mexico City said.
Tightened measures against migration
The state of Texas has tightened its crackdown on illegal migration in recent years. The floating barrier is considered the most sensational measure to date as part of the so-called Operation “Lone Star” against unauthorized border crossings from Mexico.
Texas has also erected a barbed wire fence, specifically detained migrants or bused them to Democrat-run cities in other US states. Critics, however, question the effectiveness of the two-year operation. In anticipation of the lawsuit, Abbott sent President Biden a letter defending his state’s right to put up the barrier. The governor accused Biden of endangering migrants by not doing more to discourage them from traveling to the US border. “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott wrote.