The Biden administration may move forward with a lawsuit alleging Republican-led Texas violated a U.S. environmental law by installing a 1,000-foot-long floating barrier in the Rio Grande river to deter illegal border crossings from Mexico, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra in Austin said the U.S. Department of Justice's claim that the string of buoys is covered by a law requiring states to get federal approval before obstructing navigable waterways was plausible enough to allow the lawsuit to proceed.
Ezra last year ordered Texas to remove the barrier pending the outcome of the case, saying it likely violated the federal law. A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld Ezra's ruling but the full court is now reviewing that decision, with arguments slated for May 15.
Ezra on Friday doubled down on his earlier ruling, saying the Justice Department had offered up photographs and other evidence to back up its claim that the large, stationary barrier could block vessels from passing.
"This inherently diminishes the navigability of the waterway," wrote Ezra, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush.
Ezra dismissed a separate claim in the Biden administration's lawsuit that the buoys violated an 1848 treaty between the U.S. and Mexico requiring both countries to agree before building obstructions in the Rio Grande.
The offices of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott, Republicans who have sharply criticized the Biden administration's border policies, did not respond to requests for comment.
The floating barrier is one in a series of steps Texas officials have taken in response to a record increase last year of migrants illegally crossing the border and what they say has been Democratic President Joe Biden's failure to address the issue.
The state has also bussed migrants to Democratic-led states, installed razor-wire fencing along the border, and passed a law allowing for the prosecution of people who are present in the state illegally.
Those moves have all spawned legal battles with the Biden administration and advocacy groups, who claim Texas is interfering with the federal government's power to enforce immigration laws and migrants' rights to apply for humanitarian aid.
The case is United States v. Abbott, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 1:23-cv-00853.
For the United States: Andrew Knudsen, Brian Lynk, Bryan Harrison and Kimere Kimball of the U.S. Department of Justice
For Texas: Kyle Tebo of the Texas Attorney General's office
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