Eagle Pass Business and Businessman File Lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and State Agencies Seeking Injunction against Installation of Marine Buoy Barrier Fence in the Rio Grande River
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2023
Eagle Pass business “Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team, LLC” and its owner, Jessie Fuentes, filed a lawsuit on Friday, July 7, 2023, in a Travis County District Court in Austin, Texas seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Colonel Steve McGraw as Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Major General Thomas Suelzer as Adjutant General of the Texas Military Department, and the Texas Military Department (Texas National Guard) from installing a marine buoy barrier-fence in the middle of the Rio Grande River at or near Eagle Pass, Texas to deter migrants from entering into the United States from Mexico as well as enforcing the controversial Governor Abbott Operation Lone Star Program in the State of Texas because they are ultra vires acts in violation of the Texas Administrative Procedure Act.
Fuentes and his business own and operate a canoe and kayak business on the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas since 2015 and utilize the only public boat ramp available on the Rio Grande at the City of Eagle Pass-owned Shelby Park to provide customers with training, experience, and tourism on the Rio Grande for a diverse clientele base, ranging from water sports enthusiasts, fishermen, naturalists, environmentalists, ecologists, business people, educators, film makers and producers, housewives, and many more.
Fuentes also has sponsored, together with the City of Eagle Pass, canoe and kayak races on the Rio Grande from the Shelby Park Boat Ramp downstream past the City’s International Bridge No. 1 and 2 as well as the international railroad bridge owned by Union Pacific, enjoying the natural beauty, wildlife, and majestic waters of the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border.
After a disappointing 88th Texas Legislative Session by the Republican-controlled legislature failing to enact many of Governor Abbott’s priority legislative agenda, Governor Abbott announced on June 8, 2023 his decision to install up to 1,000 feet of marine buoy barrier fence in the middle of the Rio Grande at or near Eagle Pass, Texas to prevent migrants from crossing between the ports of entry into the United States from Mexico and other foreign countries, principally from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The problem is that the specific area targeted by Governor Abbott’s proposed marine buoy barrier fence on the Rio Grande is the same area used by Fuentes and his business, Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team, LLC, to conduct and operate their business.
Abbott’s Operation Lone Star has taken control and possession of the City of Eagle Pass-owned Shelby Park and its public boat ramp and the public land underneath the two international bridges and railroad bridge (ports of entry) through an alleged agreement with the City for border security purposes, excluding the citizens use and access to the publicly-owned park, including Fuentes and his canoe and kayak business, generally used for launching boats into the Rio Grande, fishing, sporting events, golfing, walking, hiking, public events, hosting amusement carnivals and festivals, filming, training, and many other activities.
Likewise, this same area targeted for installation of the marine buoy barrier fence in the Rio Grande is one of many areas used by migrants to enter the United States from Mexico-but not exclusively, creating a conflict and a Catch-22 situation among multiple stakeholders, including local businesses, citizens, federal border security officers from Customs and Border Protection, U. S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and now the whole slate of Operation Lone Star Officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas National Guard, Texas Fish and Wildlife Game Wardens, and out-of-state officers invited by Abbott. Unquestionably, this targeted area in Eagle Pass has become totally militarized.
Last week, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the City of Eagle Pass bulldozed a natural island in the Rio Grande and filled-it in with earth to build a military security post in the middle of the river for Operation Lone Star, changing the flow of the river. This new security post is believed to be used as a launching point for the installation of the marine buoy barrier fence in the Rio Grande. It is unknown if the State of Texas and the City of Eagle Pass did any environmental impact studies and obtained the necessary permits from the International Water Boundary Commission or the federal government before bulldozing the island and building the security post.
A group of Eagle Pass citizens accompanied by downstream Rio Grande advocates from Laredo, Rio Bravo, and Zapata, Texas held a peaceful religious ceremony, press conference, and protest against the militarization of the Rio Grande and the proposed installation of the marine buoy barrier fence on Friday, July 7, 2023, at a restricted area of Shelby Park under the watchful eye and armed Texas Department of Public Safety Officers as the Operation Lone Star Supervisor advised the citizens that they were prohibited and denied access to and use of the Shelby Park Boat Ramp for their First Amendment-protected activities and launch of their kayaks into the Rio Grande due to ”increased activity in the area.” Shortly after the constitutionally-protected peaceful religious, press conference, and protest ended, the first five trailers loaded with the controversial marine buoy barriers began to arrive at the Shelby Park Boat Ramp under tight security from Texas DPS Officers.
Fuentes and his business will have a court hearing at a Travis County District Court next week in Austin, Texas to determine if a state District Court Judge grants them a preliminary injunction enjoining Governor Abbott and the state agencies from installing the marine buoy barrier fence in the middle of the Rio Grande until a trial on the merits before a jury is heard in the immediate future.
