AUSTIN, Texas (NewsNation) — Both sides in the lawsuit over buoys Texas put in the Rio Grande to block migrants from crossing the southern border have until Friday to submit written closing arguments, a federal judge said at a court hearing Tuesday.
Texas officials began installing the barrier on the Rio Grande in July. NewsNation partner Border Report said the project in total cost around $1 million, or about $1,000 per foot.
The Department of Justice sued after the barriers were put in place, saying Gov. Greg Abbott violated the Rivers and Harbors Act with the marine barrier system and that it raises humanitarian, diplomatic and environmental concerns.
Mexico has said the buoys violate its national sovereignty as well. The Department of Justice argued at the court hearing that the buoys were affecting the United States’ relationship with its neighbor to the south.
Hillary Quam, the U.S./Mexico border affair coordinator for the State Department, said Tuesday the Mexican government believes this is a treaty violation. There are concerns Mexico won’t cooperate with America on other issues while the buoys remain, Quam added.
Meanwhile, Texas officials argued Abbott as governor has the power to put the barrier in place.
Judge David Alan Ezra said during Tuesday’s hearing he would not be taking oral closing arguments, and the written arguments should be a maximum of 10 pages.
In addition, Ezra said the court will not delve into political questions and that he wants to keep arguments focused on the buoys and river itself.
Before Tuesday’s hearing, there was a protest against the buoys outside Austin’s federal courthouse, according to NewsNation local affiliate KXAN.
“It made me sick to my stomach to learn that other governors are standing for this cruelty and support this violence against our communities,” Eagle Pass resident Robie Flores said.
Biden administration officials previously warned Abbott about the lawsuit in a letter that called the buoys “unlawful.”
Texas Democrats wrote another letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the floating barrier was Abbott’s way of political posturing and calling it “inhumane,” Border Report wrote.
These criticisms ramped up after two bodies were found near the chained buoys.
During a joint press conference in Eagle Pass with the governors of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Oklahoma, Abbott fired back against critics.
“Let me be clear, we are fully authorized by the Constitution of the United States of America to do exactly what we are doing, and that is to secure the border,” Abbott said.
A federal topographic survey filed ahead of the hearing by the Biden administration found most of the buoys were in Mexican territory.
Local media reported that Abbott moved the buoys ahead of the court hearing.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Texas went back and moved the buoys into a location where it is clear that they are on the United States side, not on the Mexican side,” Abbott said, according to CBS Austin.
However, Abbott added he doesn’t know whether the survey’s findings were accurate. Loren Flossman, an employee for Cochrane USA, which was contracted to install the barriers, said during court the company was told to put the buoys on the Texas side. It’s Flossman’s belief the barrier was in the United States.
The Department of Justice isn’t the only one taking Texas to court because of the buoys — the owner of a canoe and kayak company in Eagle Pass has filed a separate suit as well.
“It affected my business drastically,” Jessie Fuentes told NewsNation. “They’ve torn up the river, they’ve dredged the border, the edges, they’ve pulled those islands with sanctuaries of flora and fauna.”
NewsNation has reached out to Abbott’s office about this particular lawsuit for comment and is waiting to hear back.
NewsNation digital producer Cassie Buchman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.