By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice intends to take legal action over floating barriers installed by the state of Texas in the Rio Grande River that blocks migrants crossing from Mexico, according to a DOJ letter to top Texas officials.
The letter sent on Thursday to Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Texas’ interim attorney general, said large plastic buoys installed earlier this month near the city of Eagle Pass illegally obstruct navigation on the river.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” reads the letter from Jaime Esparza, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, which was reviewed by Reuters.
Abbott has taken steps in recent years to deter migrants from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under an initiative dubbed Operation Lone Star, including the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops and a campaign to bus migrants to Democratic cities further north.
Abbott’s operation has been scrutinized this week after an internal trooper email surfaced alleging that Texas authorities had been ordered to push migrant children back into the Rio Grande and to deny water to migrants in extreme heat. The letter also alleged that barbed wire placed along the border lacerated people attempting to cross.
In response to the Justice Department’s legal warning, Abbott tweeted on Friday that Texas has the “sovereign authority” to defend its border with Mexico, blaming Democratic President Joe Biden’s policies for the record number of migrants caught crossing in recent years.
“We will continue to deploy every strategy to protect Texans and Americans — and the migrants risking their lives,” Abbott wrote. “We will see you in court, Mr. President.”
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Aurora Ellis)
