A federal judge heard arguments on Tuesday about whether state authorities should remove huge buoys installed to stop migrants crossing the river that divides Texas from Mexico.
The court hearing in Austin came a day after Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, and a group of hardline Republican governors gathered on the riverbank to defend local militarization of the US-Mexico border – while also acknowledging that the 1,000ft (305-meter) floating barrier had been adjusted after complaints that it had mostly drifted into Mexican territory.
Texas is defending itself against a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice against the use of the buoys in the Rio Grande without federal approval and in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Mexico also wants the barrier removed and has called the buoys, which have netting beneath and saw-like blades between the floats, “inhumane”.
Many different bodies have complained that the buoys and miles of razor wire installed on the riverbank by Texas state authorities, as well as the aggressive turning back of migrants by state troops, are dangerous and a threat to life and the environment.
Workers use heavy machinery to work on the buoy barrier in the Rio Grande on 20 August. Photograph: Mike Gonzalez/The Guardian
In court on Tuesday a US state department official said that the Mexican government had repeatedly raised concerns “at the highest level” with the US about the buoys, and that agreements between the two countries could suffer if the floating barrier remains in place.
“Mexico has sensitivities about sovereignty and doesn’t want to be seen as a lesser partner to the United States,” said Hillary Quam, the state department’s coordinator for border affairs between US and Mexico.
The US district judge David Ezra noted that the legal issue centered on whether Abbott has the power to unilaterally try stopping migration at the southern border.
‘Like traps meant for animals’: death no deterrent at the Rio Grande river barrierRead more
He did not immediately rule at the conclusion of the hearing and ordered both sides to submit written closing arguments by Friday, as the Biden administration seeks a court injunction ordering the removal of the buoys.
Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon in blistering heat above 105F (40.5C) in Eagle Pass, Abbott spoke at a riverside public park that has been largely taken over by state law enforcement and turned into a staging ground to launch boats and helicopters and deploy troops and vehicles as part of Texas’s controversial multibillion-dollar border anti-immigration program Operation Lone Star.
He was accompanied by the Republican governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota, who have all deployed military and law enforcement resources hundreds of miles from home to back up Abbott’s efforts.
“All together, if you add in the other states that are supporting this mission, 25 governors in 25 states – half of the states of the United States of America…
2023-08-22 15:30:36
Source from www.theguardian.com
