5th Circuit Court Rules Texas Floating Rio Grande Barrier to Stay in Place

On Wednesday, the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, vacated a previous decision by a divided panel of that Court which ordered the removal of Texas's floating barriers in the Rio Grande River. The barriers were placed in an attempt to stem out-of-control border crossings into Texas.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed an order requiring Texas to move a floating barrier on the Rio Grande that drew backlash from Mexico — the latest development in legal battles between the Biden administration and Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over control of migration at the border.
In December, a divided panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with a federal district judge in Texas who said the buoys must be moved. On Wednesday, the court vacated the panel’s 2-1 ruling after a majority of its 17 active judges voted to rehear the case.
The series of linked, concrete-anchored buoys stretches roughly the length of three soccer fields. The state installed it along the international border with Mexico between the Texas border city of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.

The appeals court had previously allowed the border barriers to stay in place while the case was still being challenged. The floating barrier is one of several steps the state of Texas has taken to try to stem the flow of illegal immigration that is overwhelming that state's border towns and communities. At present, about 1,000 feet of river is blocked by the barrier.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been critical of the Biden Administration for failing to control the southern border in any meaningful way, and the Biden Administration has been critical of Texas for not only taking matters into its own hands on the issue but also for bussing illegal aliens to "sanctuary" jurisdictions around the country, prompting a spectacular round of complaining by the Democrat government officials in those cities.

While the federal government is primarily charged with enforcing the nation's borders, the Biden Administration's inaction has prompted Texas to act on its own behalf. Not only is the Biden Administration allowing the flow of illegal immigration to go unchecked, in Texas and the other border states, but they are arguably taking actions to ensure that this influx not only goes unchecked but is encouraged. Federal agents have been ordered to remove barricades placed by Texas and are contesting the Texas National Guard's seizure of one common entry point.

The barrier is one focal point in the legal disputes over border control between Democratic President Joe Biden and Abbott. The Biden administration also is fighting for the right to cut razor-wire fencing at the border and for access to a city park at the border that the state fenced off.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is currently the subject of impeachment hearings over the failure of the federal government to control the border.

As of this writing, it is unclear as to whether this decision by the 5th Circuit will be appealed.