The brouhaha over the buoy barrier put in the Rio Grande River at Eagle Pass, Texas by Governor Greg Abbott is causing heartburn for the State Department. Pity. Mexico is upset that Governor Abbott is trying to protect the sovereignty of Texas.
Walls work and floating buoy barriers work, too. The buoy barrier is part of Operation Lone Star. Operation Lone Star was initiated by Governor Abbott in March 2021 when Texas was struggling to handle the massive flood of illegal immigrants coming through Mexico. The Biden administration opened up the border as soon as Biden took office and border states were left to fend for themselves. The floating buoys are the latest action in Operation Lone Star.
Biden’s DOJ wants the buoy barrier removed from the Rio Grande River. It is siding with Mexico over Texas. Shocker, I know. The Justice Department wants an emergency injunction to force the state to remove the buoys until the case can be heard. In a federal court hearing on Tuesday, Judge David Alan Ezra ruled that the buoy barrier can remain in place for another week. He gave attorneys until the close of business Friday to submit written arguments on whether he should issue an emergency injunction to force Abbott to remove the buoys. DOJ wants the buoys removed while the legal challenges continue.
The Biden administration says that Abbott is violating the Rivers and Harbors Act. That act requires any structure put in navigable waterways to first be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Federal officials say Abbott violated the Rivers and Harbors Act, which prevents putting structures in navigable waterways without approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because he did not get approval.
Attorneys for Abbott presented evidence at Tuesday’s hearing that questioned whether the 1,900-mile- Rio Grande can be considered a navigable river or if the floating buoys, attached to more than 100 tons of concrete anchors on the river bed, are the type of structure prohibited by the law. The buoys are each 4 feet in diameter and packed together to prevent people from swimming across the river.
New details about the depth of the diplomatic rift with Mexico over the buoy barrier came to light during the hearing on Tuesday. The U.S.-Mexico border affairs coordinator for the State Department testified. The judge reminded Governor Abbott’s attorney that the hearing was about river navigation, not immigration.
Hillary Quam, a U.S. State Department official, testified that Mexican officials have sent three different letters, made phone calls to top U.S. officials, and brought the buoys up at unrelated meetings. Quam, U.S.-Mexico border affairs coordinator for the State Department, said the issue has become a “major concern” for Mexican officials because of its potential to disrupt the flow of water that’s needed downstream. Mexican authorities also have warned the buoys potentially violate treaties between the two nations.
When Patrick K. Sweeten, an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, tried to question Quam about the record surge of border encounters with migrants in the last year, Ezra stopped him and reminded him the hearing wasn’t about immigration, but “whether this is a barrier to navigation” on the Rio Grande.
In other words, Mexico is using the excuse that the buoys interfere with the flow of water in the river to get them removed. Governor Abbott is using the buoy barrier to stop the flow of illegal immigrants coming into Texas by crossing the river instead of using a legal port of entry. It will be up to the Biden administration to prove that Mexico is right in its claim that the buoys disturb the river’s flow.
The buoys were put into the river at Eagle Pass because that is where the flow of illegal immigration has shifted. The cartels and traffickers adjust to where authorities are along the border. Earlier this year the Del Rio area was the biggest problem area along the border.
Governor Abbott isn’t backing down. At a news conference Monday where he was joined by four governors of red states who have sent help to the border, Abbott again made his case that Texas is doing what it has to do. Joe Biden isn’t doing his job to secure the southern border so what is Texas supposed to do? More than 5 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden took office. Abbott is using the buoy barrier, and razor wire, and deployed troops to the border at this point in the struggle.
Judge David Ezra is keeping the arguments solely on the navigation question, not the immigration situation.
“This court is not going to delve into political questions,” U.S. District Judge David Ezra said after the initial hearing on the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against Abbott.
On Tuesday, the judge appeared unreceptive to one of Texas’ core defenses for the buoys — that the state has the authority to defend its sovereignty under the U.S. Constitution because there is an “invasion” by migrants and drug smugglers.
“We are here for purposes of determining whether this is a barrier to navigation, whether this is a navigable waterway,” Ezra said.
The argument from Abbott is that the area where the buoys are lined up across the river is too shallow for navigation. Therefore, the 1899 law isn’t applicable. The law only applies if a body of water is wide and deep enough for shipping.
Mexico claims that the buoys and concrete anchors are on the Mexican side of the border. Abbott said Monday that the buoy barrier had drifted and Texas moved the buoys back into U.S. territory. A survey by the International Boundary and Water Commission found that 80% of the barrier was in Mexican territory. However, the buoy vendor disagreed about the survey’s accuracy.
In court Tuesday, Loren Flossman, an employee with buoy vendor Cochrane USA, which installed the $850,000 floating barrier, questioned the accuracy of the commission’s survey. Cochrane mapped out the area of the river before installing the buoys and placed them on the U.S. side, he testified.
Flossman testified that it would take about three weeks to remove the buoys. The Justice Department is asking for the buoys to be removed in 10 days.
The navigation issue is malarkey. Mexico is at the mercy of the cartels controlling sections of its border. No matter what Abbott does, the border has not been secured. Drugs continue to flood across the border. Human trafficking is at levels not seen before in our country. Mexico would do well to act like a partner with the United States instead of fighting security measures.
The truth is that Mexico assists illegal immigration by allowing the migrants passage to the border. It could put troops on the border to stop them, as Texas has done, and to some extent, DHS, but Mexico is not interested in doing that. It is okay for Mexicans and others to leave the country for the United States. And, Joe Biden intentionally opened up the border to accommodate Mexico. Mexico is content with the open border. The truly irritating part of this is the Biden administration kowtowing to Mexico and pitting Governor Abbott against Mexico. I don’t think this lawsuit against Texas by the DOJ would be happening if Texas was a blue state.
It is easy to be cynical about the intentions of the Biden administration. Every decision is politically motivated. Biden, his cabinet, and spokespeople demonize opposition from Republicans. It’s all so predictable. Biden is beholden to the far left and appeases them at every turn. They are pushing for blanket amnesty and want all these millions of illegal immigrants to be legalized. Future Democrat voters, right?
Biden said he wants to transform America and he’s doing it. That’s not a compliment if you are on the side of law and order, national sovereignty, homeland security, and basic humanity. The Biden border crisis is a humanitarian crisis. Migrants make truly dangerous treks to cross the border. They die before they get here. Or, they drown in the Rio Grande River. The buoy barrier stops drownings and prevents more lawless entries. It has nothing to do with river navigation. I could not care less about Mexico’s hurt feelings.
