Texas Gets Big Court Victory: Judge Grants Motion to Leave River Barriers Under Emergency Stay
The U.S. Appeals Court has issued an emergency stay to Texas, permitting the state to temporarily maintain the barriers it placed in the Rio Grande.
This decision is a response to a federal judge's order in Austin, given the day before, which required Texas to move the barriers to the riverbank on the Texas side by September 15.
Additionally, the state was ordered not to add any more structures to or within the river until the final outcome of the Department of Justice's lawsuit. The granted stay will remain in effect "until further notice from the Court," as stated in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' filing. The Fifth Circuit is expected to hold a comprehensive hearing with arguments from both sides regarding the placement of the barriers in the Rio Grande River.
In July, the Department of Justice initiated a lawsuit against the State of Texas, arguing that Texas did not have the authority to place the barriers in the river, as it exceeded the state's jurisdiction.
Judge David Alan Ezra's ruling directs that the buoy barrier should be relocated from the main waters of the Rio Grande River to the riverbank, rather than being entirely removed from the river. This is to ensure that the barrier does not obstruct navigation by airboats or other shallow draft craft along the Rio Grande River. The evidence has shown that this relocation can be done swiftly, as the Governor himself ordered the movement of the buoy barrier, which the federal government claimed partially extended into Mexican waters, closer to the United States side of the river.
Governor Abbott criticized the ruling in a statement on Wednesday, calling it "incorrect." He stated that the decision prolongs President Biden's refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully taking on the responsibilities he should have been handling. Abbott asserted that this ruling would be overturned on appeal and vowed to continue using various strategies, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers, to protect Texas' sovereign authority and address the challenges caused by President Biden's open border policies. He expressed his readiness to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This development comes as reports suggest that the Biden administration plans to implement a "remain-in-Texas" policy to prevent unauthorized migrants from entering the United States beyond Texas and heading to cities run by Democrats.
Under the Biden plan, specific migrant families could be required to stay in Texas or potentially other border states, with their locations monitored through GPS tracking devices such as ankle bracelets, as reported by the LA Times on Thursday.
