Justice Department Sues Texas for Floating Rio Grande Barrier

The State of Texas installed a floating barrier to prevent people from swimming across the Rio Grande on Monday. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging that the interlocking buoys violated federal law.

Following the announcement of the 1,000-foot barrier earlier this month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott filed the lawsuit. He did so after declining the Justice Department’s request for him to remove the buoys voluntarily and promising to fight the decision in court. The large number of immigrants illegally crossing the border has been attributed to President Biden by Mr. Abbott.

In a letter to President Biden on Monday, Mr. Abbott demanded that “you start enforcing federal immigration laws if you truly care about human life.” Texas will act following its constitutional authority to address the crisis you have brought about in the interim.

Democrats and even some members of Texas law enforcement have expressed increasing outrage over other, more aggressive measures taken by the state to deter immigration, such as the addition of concertina wire along the Rio Grande’s banks. State police have been yelling at migrants to turn around and, in some cases, have refused to give people who ask for water.

The federal government claims that Texas violates a provision of the federal Rivers and Harbours Appropriation Act, which forbids the placement of structures in waterways without federal approval, in the lawsuit concerning the buoy barrier.

In a statement announcing the lawsuit, associate attorney general Vanita Gupta stated that the floating barrier “poses threats to navigation, public safety, and presents humanitarian concerns.” Additionally, Mexico has protested the presence of the floating barrier diplomatically, and this could harm American foreign policy.

The federal government is requesting that the court order Texas to remove the current barriers and prohibit the construction of any additional barriers along the river.

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The ongoing legal battle marks the first time the Justice Department has directly contested Mr. Abbott’s efforts to enforce immigration laws by dispatching a large number of National Guard soldiers and state police officers to barricade the border with Mexico. Operation Lone Star is the name of the multibillion-dollar program, which was started more than two years ago.

The New York Times was able to view interviews and internal emails between officers in the Department of Public Safety that described the various deterrent strategies now being used by Texas authorities. These strategies have been applied at border crossing points where illegal crossings are frequent, particularly in the small border town of Eagle Pass.

Several officers within the organization have voiced concerns that the recently aggressive approach, which started about two months ago and has been described as a “hold the queue” operation by top D.P.S. officials, has resulted in injuries among migrants.

According to a memo sent to D.P.S. and obtained by The Times, border agents have also complained to Texas law enforcement that the abundance of concertina wire along the river, which was installed there by Texas National Guard troops, has made it harder for border agents to assist migrants and could cause more drownings.

A letter to Vice President Biden pleading with him to look into the Operation Lone Star program and stop Mr. Abbott’s “dangerous and cruel actions” by asserting the federal government’s control over immigration law was signed by more than 80 Democratic members of the U.S. House on Friday, including every representative from Texas.

The 1,254-mile border between Texas and Mexico is only partially protected by the buoy barriers, which Mr. Abbott announced last month. However, their deployment has given Mr. Abbott the chance to directly take on Mr. Biden on the subject of border security.

The Republican governor of Texas, a former state attorney general who is serving his third term, seemed eager to take the Democratic president to court over the enforcement of immigration laws.

Mr. Abbott wrote in his letter, “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”

The federal government did not contest the other strategies and measures used by the Abbott administration as part of Operation Lone Star in its lawsuit filed on Monday; instead, it focused on the buoy barriers and federal law governing navigable waters.