News/Commentary

Federal judge orders Texas to remove floating border barrier, Gov. Abbott vows to appeal

September 7, 2023 | | Print Article

Senior US District Judge David Alan Ezra has ordered Texas to remove its floating barrier from the Rio Grande after the Biden administration complained and Governor Greg Abbott is vowing to appeal.

(Video Credit: KPRC 2 Click2Houston)

The court order from the judge states that not only does Texas have to remove the barrier, it has to refrain from building any additional barriers pending his final judgment.

“Defendants and anyone working on their behalf are enjoined and hereby prohibited from building new or placing additional buoys, blockades, or structures of any kind in the Rio Grande River pending final judgment in this matter,” Ezra wrote in his decision.

“Defendants shall, by September 15, 2023, reposition, at Defendants’ expense, and in coordination with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, all buoys, anchors, and other related materials composing the … floating barrier placed by Texas in the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas to the bank of the Rio Grande on the Texas side of the river,” the judge added.

Abbott immediately announced that he would appeal the ruling and, if he has to, he’ll take it all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Texas will appeal. Today’s court decision merely prolongs President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully stepping up to do the job that he should have been doing all along,” Abbott’s office proclaimed via a statement.

“This ruling is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal. We will continue to utilize every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers. Our battle to defend Texas’ sovereign authority to protect lives from the chaos caused by President Biden’s open border policies has only begun. Texas is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the statement asserted.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Republicans decried the intervention overriding state’s rights while Democrats did a celebratory Snoopy dance over it.

Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who is running against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024, applauded the move. He wants the barrier gone and the border to Texas flung wide open. He even had the stones to try and use the ruling against Cruz.

“The cruel and inhumane border policies endorsed by Ted Cruz have killed children and separated families,” Gutierrez declared.

“Today, the death buoys supported by Cruz were rejected by a federal judge. The Department of Justice’s ruling against Operation Lone Star is a necessary step towards justice, shedding light on inhumane and cruel practices that have no place in our society,” he continued.

“Drowning women and children at the border isn’t a policy,” he grandstanded. “It is cruelty and insanity. The Department’s ruling is a step towards justice, but now we must see action. This whole stunt must end right now.”

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