Appeals court allows Texas to leave anti-migrant buoys in Rio Grande for now

An appeals court Thursday stopped a lower court order that required Texas to remove the floating barriers it placed in the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing.

The temporary stay issued by the Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit freezes a significant win by the Biden administration against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) from the day before.

At issue is a central cornerstone of Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s plan to stop migrants from crossing into Texas from Mexico.

The buoys were decried as violating human rights by civil society groups and Democrats, while Abbott’s allies defended them as an effective deterrent that prevented migrants from potentially drowning in the river.

The Mexican government, however, has recorded at least two migrant deaths due to the buoys, which are chained together parallel to the flow of the river and separated by serrated steel discs.

Mexico’s formal diplomatic complaints played a key role in District Judge David Ezra’s decision to order Abbott to remove the barriers.

The Department of Justice’s suit against Texas was based primarily on federal law concerning navigable waterways, which prohibit installing obstacles in said waterways without federal permission.

In his ruling, Ezra lambasted Abbott for saying he “was not asking for permission” to implement Operation Lone Star, writing “permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters.” 

Ezra also ridiculed Texas for unilaterally labeling migration an “invasion” to justify the use of public force against migrants.

“Such a claim is breathtaking,” Ezra wrote.

Abbott quickly attacked the original decision, vowing “to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”