Governor Abbott and Texas Forced to Move Controversial Floating Buoy Barrier in Rio Grande River After Building It on Mexican Territory
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2023
After a survey conducted by the joint United States International Boundary and Water Commission and the Mexican International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in late-July 2023 of the controversial floating marine buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River constructed by the State of Texas under the direction of Governor Greg Abbott found that 80% of the 995 foot long structure in Eagle Pass, Texas is actually constructed on the Mexican side of the river, the State of Texas and Governor Greg Abbott were forced to send a private contractor to move and realign the floating buoy barrier toward the United States-side of the Rio Grande as the political stunt backfired on Governor Abbott by placing it on the wrong side. Texas taxpayers paid at least one million dollars for the buoys plus an additional significant amount on transporting it, building it, and realigning it on the American-side of the Rio Grande.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Relations Alicia Barcena filed a diplomatic complaint with United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at their August 10, 2023 meeting in Washington, D. C., requesting Governor Abbott and the State of Texas remove the floating buoy barrier from the Rio Grande and Mexican territory.
Of the 995 foot long floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, only 208 feet of it are on the United States-side of the Rio Grande River. Thus, 787 feet of the buoys are located within Mexico.
The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott and the State of Texas in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, in Austin, Texas, requesting Governor Abbott and Texas remove the floating buoy barrier from the Rio Grande as well as enjoin the state from building any further buoys on the Rio Grande. A Court hearing for the U. S. Department of Justice preliminary injunction request is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Austin, Texas.
In a Court filing on Friday, August 18, 2023, the U. S. Department of Justice notified the Court that Defendants Greg Abbott and the State of Texas had done additional construction work on the floating buoys by repositioning the buoys in a different location within the Rio Grande, closer to the U. S. bank of the river.
United States International Boundary and Water Commission Engineer Evelio Siller stated in a Declaration filed with the Court that he had received a report of in-water construction work being performed at the site of the Floating Buoy Barrier and upon visiting the site on Friday, August 18, 2023, he observed excavators and workers in the Rio Grande River and a concrete anchor being repositioned in a different location within the Rio Grande on the U.S.-side of the river.
Abbott and Texas did not notify the U. S. Department of Justice nor the International Water Boundary Commission and the U. S. District Court that they were performing additional work to correct their mistake in building the floating buoys on the Mexican-side of the Rio Grande. When questioned by the U. S. Department of Justice as to the additional in-water construction being done on the floating buoys, the Defendants, Abbott and the state of Texas, admitted they were repositioning the floating buoy barrier within the U. S.-side of the Rio Grande River.
The U. S. Department of Justice stated in its Court filing that “Texas’ newly resumed, unauthorized construction activities in the Rio Grande underscore why this Court should grant the United States’ Opposed Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The United States is harmed, not only by Texas’ ongoing and flagrant violations of Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, but also by the effects the violations continue to have on U.S.-Mexico relations and other compelling federal interests.”
Abbott and the state of Texas contend that the state has authority to build the floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River.
The U. S. District Court will hear the Department of Justice’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction against Abbott and the state of Texas on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 9 a.m. in Austin, Texas.
