Biden administration, Texas head to court over floating buoy wall

(NewsNation) — The Biden administration and Texas will face off in court Thursday, appearing before a panel of judges who will decide the legality of the state’s floating border buoys in the Rio Grande River.

The 1,000-foot-long buoy barrier has been floating in the river for the past three months and has been a subject of dispute for roughly the same duration.

The appellate court is set to hear oral arguments with the U.S. Department of Justice case against the state of Texas. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. CT and is anticipated to be brief, lasting about 20 minutes.

However, legal experts caution that a decision likely won’t be made for several weeks.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas to remove the buoys along the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing the buoys violate the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act, as they obstruct the “navigable capacity” of U.S. water.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is prepared for a legal battle and is hoping the case will escalate to the Supreme Court. His objective is to have the justices reassess whether states can invoke their constitutional self-defense rights, which stems from Abbott’s declaration of invasion in November 2022.

Texas has argued in court that it can disregard the federal ban on river construction due to the state’s right to self-defense in the case of an invasion.

In September, a federal appeals court permitted the barrier to remain in place, temporarily overturning an order issued earlier in the month by a lower court in Austin.

Abbott has downplayed the outrage from the Mexican government that the buoys violate the international treaty, specifically, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has characterized the barrier as “death buoys.”

Abbott claims the barrier is temporary; however, the DOJ highlighted the use of nearly 140 tons of concrete to anchor the system to the riverbed. Additionally, the DOJ argues that the barrier has not stopped smuggling and illegal crossings.

Brent Smith, a Kinney County, Texas attorney, said Abbott is within his rights to secure Texas and he believes this case will have a straightforward solution.

“It’s pretty straightforward. It’s called the self-defense clause for a reason,” Smith said. “Why would the states have to go ask permission from the federal government, ‘Hey, can we defend ourselves with your permission?'”

Should the court order the removal of the buoys, Texas is expected to appeal the decision, potentially escalating the case to the Supreme Court.