Judge David Alan Ezra of the U.S. District Court Western District of Texas – Austin Division told Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove the floating buoys in the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing.
The ruling is a preliminary injunction, which “is to preserve the relative of the parties until a trial on the merits can be held.” A judge can award the preliminary injunction if the plaintiff shows:
(1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits;(2) a substantial threat of irreparable harm if the injunction does not issue;(3) that the threatened injury outweighs any harm that will result if the injunction is granted; and(4) that the grant of an injunction is in the public interest.
Ezra decided the DOJ met all four points.
Texas officials installed the buoys with anchors by Eagle Pass, where border agents have encountered about 270,000 migrants in this fiscal year.
That number is lower than the encounters last year.
The DOJ claimed Texas of placing “a barrier on the international boundary without permission.”
Officials accused Texas of violating the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899:
The United States alleges that Texas violated Section 10 of the RHA, 33 U.S.C § 403, by (1) erecting a structure in the Rio Grande River without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”), and (2) creating an obstruction to the navigable capacity of that waterway without affirmative Congressional authorization. (Id. ¶ 2.)
President Joe Biden invoked humanitarian and environmental concerns.
Ezra wrote that Texas and anyone helping the state with the buoys should stop installing the objects or anything else in the Rio Grande.
Texas has until September 15 to remove the buoys.
“Today’s court decision merely prolongs President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully stepping up to do the job that he should have been doing all along. This ruling is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal,” Abbott said in a 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.”Our battle to defend Texas’ sovereign authority to protect lives from the chaos caused by President Biden’s open border policies has only begun. Texas is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
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