The U.S. Department of Justice’s has filed a lawsuit against Texas over the installation of a marine border barrier in the Rio Grande River.
While the federal government argues that Texas flouted Federal law in installing the barriers, Gov. Greg Abbott says he welcomes the fight.
In a letter to Biden before the suit was filed, Abbott reminded the president of his constitutional obligations to secure the country’s international borders and stated Texas’ intent to continue protecting the Texas border.
“[Y]ou must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry,” said Abbott in his letter. “In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused. Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”
Abbott announced in June that the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard would install a “marine barrier” consisting of a string of buoys to discourage illegal aliens from crossing the Rio Grande River.
Since its installation, an Eagle Pass business owner has filed a lawsuit against Abbott, the State of Texas, and the Texas Department of Public Safety, while Mexico has filed a diplomatic complaint regarding the barrier.
The DOJ then announced its intent to sue Texas over the installation Thursday, leading Abbott to argue in his letter that the marine barrier not only doesn’t qualify for the statute cited by the federal government but that the barrier itself is a “side issue.”
According to Abbott, if Biden “would just enforce the immigration laws Congress already has on the books, America would not be suffering from your record-breaking level of illegal immigration.”
While I share the humanitarian concerns noted in your lawyers’ letter, Mr. President, your finger points in the wrong direction. Neither of us wants to see another death in the Rio Grande River. Yet your open-border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives by crossing illegally through the water, instead of safely and legally at a port of entry. Nobody drowns on a bridge.
Abbott argued that if the president truly cares about human life, he will enforce federal law.
However, Abbott said, “In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused.
Texans for Strong Borders president Chris Russo told Texas Scorecard, “The great irony about this situation is that Texas can still do more to repel the invasion at our border under the very powers Governor Abbott cites under Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution.”
According to Russo, “The state should refuse to turn over apprehended illegal aliens in the border region to federal officials and instead begin removals back into Mexico. It should also ramp up the operations like those in Maverick County statewide.”
“Still, it is encouraging that the governor and the State of Texas will advance the legal theory regarding the powers of states to repel invasions in the pending court battle, one that will likely end up in the Supreme Court,” he added.
