On Friday, Jessie Fuentes, the owner of a Texas-based canoe and kayak business, initiated legal proceedings. The aim was to put a stop to the implementation of Governor Greg Abbott's proposed marine floating barrier in the Rio Grande. Fuentes asserts that Abbott's authority does not extend to border regulation. The lawsuit emerged on the day Texas began positioning buoys to prevent migrant crossings at the US-Mexico border.
The defendants of the lawsuit, besides Governor Abbott, include the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard. CNN attempted to receive comments from Governor Abbott's office but has not garnered a response. Attorney Carlos Flores, a representative of Fuentes, publicly criticized Governor Abbott's border policy decisions as misleading and detrimental to the Texas-Mexico border communities.
Governor Abbott, who has consistently criticized the Biden administration's border policies, announced an initiative to place a 1,000-foot floating barrier along the river last month. The filed lawsuit posits that the planned buoys would disrupt Fuentes’ border-town business operations and inflict an immediate, irrecoverable blow. The litigation accuses the Republican governor of misusing the Texas Disaster Act of 1975.
The case alleges that this act is being unjustly employed in an attempt to justify a policy that doesn't logically connect with the original intention of handling statewide emergencies. The lawsuit also described the barrier as a misguided strategy aimed at creating fear around Mexicans, immigrants, and Mexican Americans. In addition, the lawsuit asserts that governing immigration law enforcement is not under Texas's rights and regulations.
The lawsuit, which sought an immediate and lasting injunction, was officially submitted before the placement of the buoys in the Rio Grande. Governor Abbott shared a post on Twitter that showcased the buoy deployment process near the border town of Eagle Pass. He also confirmed that the Texas Department of Public Safety oversees the operation.
Last month's announcement saw Steven McCraw, the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, praising the potential mobility of the barrier and the ease of its deployment. Further explained was the design: the buoy would be securely positioned at the bottom of the river and rise to a height of 4 to 6 feet, depending on the water level.
A series of drowning at the Rio Grande, resulting in four deaths, underscored the urgency of the barrier. Fatalities included an infant, a woman, and two unidentified individuals. Migrants riskier strategies to enter the U.S. are leading to lethal outcomes, such as a stowaway migrant found dead near Eagle Pass. In one tragic incident in 2022, a member of the Texas National Guard drowned while attempting to rescue a migrant woman crossing the river, marking that year as one of the deadliest in recent memory for border crossings. Critics argue that restrictive immigration policies have contributed significantly to these tragedies.
