The U.S. Department of Justice has put Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on notice: remove the floating barrier in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass or risk legal action.
The DOJ admonished Texas saying the buoy barriers violate the Rivers and Harbors Act, raise humanitarian concerns and pose serious risks to public safety and the environment.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza sent the notice to Abbott and Interim Texas Attorney General Angela Colmenero on Thursday warning of ‘prospective filing of legal action regarding unlawful activities in the Rio Grande River.’
Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, welcomes news of the federal government’s show of force after urging federal authorities to take action.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
“Governor Abbott has really crossed the line of human decency putting razor wire and death traps,” said Garcia on Friday. “I think the Department of Justice, by investigating this situation, filling a lawsuit to stop illegal actions is the appropriate thing to do. That’s the American and the Christian thing to do.”
The warning comes on the heels of concerning allegations brought by a Texas DPS Trooper-turned ‘whistleblower’ who claims receiving orders to force migrants of all ages back into the river, witnessing injuries to migrants due to razor wire in the river and along the riverbanks and denying migrants water.
The Texas DPS denies the allegations and is investigating.
Abbott took to Twitter on Friday tweeting:
"Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution…
We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans - and the migrants risking their lives.
We will see you in court, Mr. President."
However, SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson said Abbott, a former judge and attorney general, is steeped in the law and knows this is a legal battle he will lose.
“The governor has no legal leg to stand on but he’s gaining politically by this argument,” said Jillson. “At some point, Texas will have to remove those obstructions but each day they argue that the federal government is not doing their job and they’re stepping in to protect Texans is a political win among conservatives and Republicans, so he will drag this out as long as possible.
Who are migrants traversing the makeshift barriers along the border, facing off with soldiers and troopers?
For several years, NBC 5 has documented migrants risking injury or death by swimming the unpredictable Rio Grande amid massive global migration to the U.S.
Amid a surge at the Southern Border in recent years, the Biden Administration has been allowing a growing number of migrants who have been waiting in Mexico to apply for an asylum hearing in the U.S. through a mobile government app. Thousands of vetted migrants who secure a hearing and receive a ‘notice to appear’ in immigration court walk to U.S. Ports of Entry and are allowed into the country to await their hearings which can take several years.
In large part, migrants attempting to swim across the river, with or without the help of human smugglers, have not secured an asylum hearing but rather are trying to reach U.S. soil, surrender to Customs and Border Patrol agents and claim asylum.
Migrants have told journalists when they are turned back to Mexico by agents, they search out other less-secure areas along the border and try again.
May 2023 brought the end of Title 42 after legal challenges. It is a Covid-era health policy that allowed migrants to be quickly expelled to their home countries or Mexico without the ability to claim asylum in the U.S.
However, the end of Title 42 ushered Title 8 back in, which can carry harsher penalties for those crossing into the U.S. illegally, including a ban on migrants repeatedly caught crossing illegally.
Illegal crossings have declined in recent months, according to DHS data.
Garcia calls the battle unfolding between Texas and the federal government a political stunt that’s gone too far.
Asked what his solution would then be, Garcia said: “Democrats and Republics need to come together to pass immigration reform that will allow workers to come into this country legally,” filling jobs Americans do not want and return to their countries.
Asked if he thinks that’s going to happen, Garcia responded: “Not until after the election.”
