Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the deployment of additional floating barriers on the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. A federal appeals court previously ruled the State could continue its efforts in a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration.
Texas Department of Public Safety Spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez posted a video on X showing contractors connecting additional segments to the infamous floating border barrier. The barrier has proven effective in trial deployments at stopping migrant crossings in formerly high-volume human smuggling areas.
Yesterday, under the direction of Gov. @GregAbbott_TX, the State of Texas added additional water buoys in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass.
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) January 21, 2025
This proven method deters illegal border crossings between the ports of entry. Texas will continue to lead the way in constructing border… pic.twitter.com/B10DhjbLHh
In July 2023, construction crews began the first deployments of the floating barriers ordered by Governor Abbott under Operation Lone Star, Breitbart Texas reported.
Texas Department of Public SafetyAbout ten days later, Biden’s Department of Justice sent a letter to Governor Abbott demanding the removal of the barriers. The governor responded, “We will see you in court, Mr. President.”
“Texas has the sovereign right to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution,” Abbott stated at the time. The governor added that President Joe Biden’s refusal to secure the border “encourages migrants to risk their lives crossing illegally through the Rio Grande, instead of safely and legally over a bridge.”
In July 2024, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas could keep its barriers.
Following an en banc appeal, the court’s majority opinion overturned a lower court’s preliminary injunction and wrote, “We hold that the district court clearly erred in finding that the United States will likely prove that the barrier is in a navigable stretch of the Rio Grande. We cannot square the district court’s findings and conclusions with over a century’s worth of precedent.”
The case is USA v. Greg Abbott, No. 23-50632, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit en banc.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team and a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
