Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said last week that his state would bring its case regarding a floating border barrier all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. The news comes as a number of efforts by the state government have been challenged by Democrats and left-wing activists.
His comments came after a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which ruled 2-1 not to reverse an earlier decision that would force Texas to dismantle a floating border barrier in the Rio Grande.
The governor wrote on social media that the court’s decision was “clearly wrong” and violated the state’s “sovereign authority.” He said that he and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) would “seek an immediate rehearing by the entire court.”
Abbott also said that the state would go to the Supreme Court “if needed to protect Texas from Biden’s open borders.”
The court wrote in its decision that the floating buoys could not be used since the Rio Grande is a navigable waterway, despite Abbott arguing that it was “not navigable by definition.” The section of the river is not being used by transport boats.
The 5th Cir. Court of Appeals’ denial of Texas’ sovereign authority to secure the border with floating marine barriers is clearly wrong.
AG Paxton & I will seek an immediate rehearing by the entire court.
We’ll go to SCOTUS if needed to protect Texas from Biden’s open borders.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 1, 2023
During a Fox News interview, Abbott said that the state will be seeking an “unbuffed ruling by the entire district court of appeals and if we lose there, we will take that to the United States Supreme Court because we know Texas has the right to legally deploy those buoys in the water to prevent people from entering our country and our state illegally.”
The governor also endorsed the idea of impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for not enforcing border policy.
Abbott has taken a number of other measures to try to reduce illegal immigration to his state. Texas has bussed thousands of migrants to a number of other states.
The governor announced last week that Texas planned to bus more than 70,000 migrants to a number of northern cities, including some that are self-declared ‘sanctuaries’ for migrants.
The state’s Operation Lone Star has successfully apprehended hundreds of migrants attempting to cross the border, as well as leading to a number of drug seizures.
