Judge orders Texas to remove barrier in Rio Grande designed to deter migrants

The judge ordered the removal of the 1,000-foot barrier near Eagle Pass by Sept. 15.

In a win for the Biden administration, a federal judge Wednesday ordered Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier his state placed in the Rio Grande River to deter illegal migrant crossings.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra, a Reagan appointee, issued an order for the swift removal of the 1,000-foot barrier near Eagle Pass, Texas, granting the Justice Department's request for a preliminary injunction while the case is litigated. He gave the state until Sept. 15 to remove the barrier and prohibited it from building new barriers in the river pending final judgment in the matter.

Ezra, who's based in Austin, said the Justice Department would most likely prevail on the merits of the case when a trial takes places, adding that Texas violated federal law when it installed the barrier system under Abbott's directive.

“Unfortunately for Texas, permission is exactly what federal law requires before installing obstructions in the nation’s navigable waters,” Ezra wrote in a 42-page filing.