Texas AG Wins Big Victory Over Biden-Harris Demand to Remove Rio Grande Buoys

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a major victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which vacated an injunction that wrongfully ordered Texas to remove buoys that the State placed in the Rio Grande to prevent aliens from entering America unlawfully.

In 2023, Texas deployed the buoys to address the historic levels of aliens attempting illegal, dangerous—and in some cases, deadly—river crossings.

The Biden Administration then sued and demanded Texas remove the buoys and reopen the border. A federal district court granted the Biden Administration a preliminary injunction and ordered the buoys to be removed and a Fifth Circuit panel issued a split decision upholding the order. However, in January 2024, Attorney General Paxton secured an en banc rehearing before the Fifth Circuit.

Abbott defended his decision to deploy the barrier as the “commander-in-chief of our State’s militia,” and blamed the Biden administration, including Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas’ immigration policy for the conditions at the border. Texas simply argued that the barrier was designed to direct migrants to appropriate entry points and deter unlawful crossings, including human and drug smuggling.

The state’s lawyers argued in court documents that the barrier is not a structure that required authorization. They proved that the state notified proper authorities by briefing the international body that regulates the Rio Grande before the barrier was installed.

The full court has now ruled that the district court’s flawed preliminary injunction misapplied the law and was an abuse of the lower court’s authority. The buoy barrier can remain in the river while proceedings continue at the district court level.

“The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Texas’s favor, finding that the federal district court abused its discretion when it ordered Texas to remove the buoys floating in the Rio Grande that prevent aliens from attempting a dangerous river crossing to enter America illegally,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The buoys can remain in the river. I will continue to defend Texas’s right to protect its border from illegal immigration.”

☆☆☆☆☆