Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he is ready to square off against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in court rather than comply with a demand letter the DOJ sent last week stating it would file legal action against the state if it did not reply by 1 pm Monday (Texas Time) "to have a discussion" about the "unlawful construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande River."
"Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution. We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President Biden earlier this year," stated Governor Abbott.
"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."
Installation of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass is the center of a legal dispute between Texas and the U.S. Justice Dept.Photo byOffice of Texas Governor Greg Abbott
On Monday - as the deadline for a response demanded by the DOJ neared - Governor Abbott responded with a defiant letter to President Biden (See excerpt and additional statement from the Governor below):
Excerpt of letter from Texas Governor Greg Abbott to President Joe Biden - and a statement by the Governor issued Monday, July 24, 2023Photo byOffice of Texas Governor Greg Abbott
In his letter to the President, the Governor wrote that "It has been under your watch that migrants have suffered an unprecedented crisis of inhumanity:
• Two years before Texas deployed the floating marine barriers, and a year before it deployed concertina wire, a United Nations agency declared that the border between the United States and Mexico is the deadliest land crossing in the world, with 728 migrant deaths recorded in 2021.
• Before Texas took the action about which you now complain, hundreds of migrants drowned in the Rio Grande River trying to cross the border illegally.
• Before Texas took the action about which you now complain, 53 migrants who illegally crossed the border died in the back of an 18-wheel tractor trailer near San Antonio.
• Before Texas took the action about which you now complain, thousands of Americans lost their lives to the fentanyl that pours across our border daily.
If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws", The Governor wrote.
As a result, the DOJ announced it had filed suit against the State of Texas late Monday afternoon on July 24, 2023. “We allege that Texas has flouted federal law by installing a barrier in the Rio Grande without obtaining the required federal authorization,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
The complaint is lodged in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas.
The case is being litigated by the Environmental Defense Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The DOJ's original letter says the barrier "violate(s) federal law, raise(s) humanitarian concerns, present(s) serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties."
Further, the Department of Justice says the barrier violates federal law "which prohibits the creation of any obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States, and further prohibits building any structure in such waters without authorization from the United States Army Corps of Engineers."
Federal authorization that's a joke. Federal government's not even listening to the American taxpayers it goes through to one year now the other f*** them all
Chuck Moore
2023-07-27
texas governor needs 2 be impeached he is part devil let him get cut up by that Razer wire. thus is not war he dont care it children get cut up an bleed 2 death i wad in the military an seen what that shit can do
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