5th Circuit temporarily stays order for Texas to remove buoy barrier

[In It to Win It]

POLITICO

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday temporarily halted a district judge’s order for Texas to remove from its river border with Mexico a thousand-foot-long buoy barrier put in place to deter crossings, a decision that will maintain the status quo as the appeals court considers a longer-term stay.

In documents filed on Thursday, Texas’ legal team pushed the court to issue the stay pending appeal, arguing that the state’s sovereignty and self-defense interests would be irreparably harmed — even if the court eventually ruled in favor of Texas. The state’s lawyers further argued that the barrier was necessary because the state is under “invasion” from drug cartels, leaning into a conservative legal theory that contends states have the constitutional power to enforce border security if its people are in imminent danger.

“The buoys were deployed under the Governor’s constitutional authority to defend Texas from transnational-criminal-cartel invasion,” the Texas lawyers wrote. “Moving the buoys exacerbates dangers to migrants enticed to cross the border unlawfully, and to Texans harmed by human trafficking, drug smuggling, and unchecked cartel violence.”

The Texas attorneys also criticized the district judge’s Wednesday interpretation of a law that allows the federal government to regulate waterways and ensure their navigability, which was a key part of the ruling. The judge had also argued that the barrier presented a risk to human life.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said on Wednesday that it was prepared to fight the case up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

[dweller]

1. If the buoy barrier

is on the Mexican side of the river , the Mexican authorities ought to take them.


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