Biden govt sues Texas: What is the floating Mexico border barrier, why it has been installed

What is the barricade in the Rio Grande River?

A 3,051-km-long river, the Rio Grande runs from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico and is the effective US-Mexican border through most of Texas. But it is also a key route for migrants from Mexico to try and enter the United States. A DW report said hundreds of migrants every day attempt to reach the American land through the river. In a bid to stop this influx, Abbott in June announced his plan to build a barricade in the Rio Grande, near the border city of Eagle Pass in Texas.

According to media reports, the barricade, whose installation is almost complete now, is essentially a 1,000-foot (305-meter) line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys.

Why is the Justice Department opposed to it?

The Justice Department, in its court filing, alleges that Abbott flouted federal law by building structures in the Rio Grande River without authorisation, creating an obstruction in US waters.

The lawsuit was filed after in a letter to Abbott last week, Jaime Esparza, the US attorney for the Western District of Texas, threatened to sue the governor if he failed to remove the structure. Esparza argued that the barricade illegally obstructs navigation on the river.

According to a Politico report, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement, “This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns.

Additionally, the presence of the floating barrier has prompted diplomatic protests by Mexico and risks damaging US foreign policy.”

The nine-page lawsuit of the Justice Department seeks the removal of the barricade by Texas officials at the state’s expense. Notably, it has come around a week after the Mexican government complained to the Biden administration regarding the structure.

Meanwhile, immigration advocates have said the barricade is likely to not have any substantial impact on the flow of migrants crossing the border and will probably make the crossing more dangerous.

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How has Abbott responded?

Despite the lawsuit and prior warnings, Abbott has remained unfazed. According to the DW report, the Texas governor, in anticipation of the lawsuit, wrote a letter to Biden, in which he “defended his “right” to secure the state borders against migration and accused Biden of failing to enforce immigration laws and leading to a “record-breaking level of illegal immigration.”

“Texas will see you in court, Mr President,” Abbott added.

Why has the immigration policy of Texas come into the limelight recently?

The lawsuit is the culmination of the ongoing tussle between the Biden administration and Abbott over the entry of migrants into the US. The fallout began in 2021 when the Texas governor launched Operation Lone Star — a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department to secure the southern border between Texas and Mexico.

Under the operation, Texas officials “have fortified the riverbanks with additional concertina wire, denied water to some migrants, shouted at others to return to Mexico and, in some cases, deliberately failed to alert federal Border Patrol agents who might assist arriving groups in coming ashore and making asylum claims,” a report by The New York Times said. Such measures have put Operation Lone Star and the Texas government under severe public scrutiny.

The Biden administration has repeatedly condemned the stringent actions taken by Abbott, saying they are unnecessary as the number of crossings into the country has dropped significantly since introducing new asylum rules. The Texas governor, however, disagrees and has blamed the president for a “record-breaking level of illegal immigration”.

(With input from DW and The New York Times)