Michael Karlis
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a buoy barrier to be deployed within the Rio Grande close to Eagle Move earlier this yr.
Attorneys for the state of Texas argued in courtroom Thursday that the barrier Gov. Greg Abbott ordered put in within the Rio Grande needs to be allowed to stay for the reason that shallow river is not technically navigable, the Related Press experiences.
The legal professionals made the argument in entrance of the three-judge fifth U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals in New Orleans. Texas appealed the case to that courtroom after U.S. District Decide David Ezra dominated in August that the buoys needs to be eliminated. Ezra dominated that the barrier threatened public security and broken the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. He additionally argued that the buoys — first deployed in early July — obstructed watercraft site visitors in violation of the U.S. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.
Texas legal professional Lanora Pettit argued Thursday that the shallow and rocky Rio Grande, identified for its robust currents, is not navigable and sure by no means might be, the AP experiences.
Nonetheless, the U.S. Justice Division’s Michael Grey used previous ferry site visitors and U.S. Coast Guard exercise as proof that watercraft can and do journey the river.
The judges on the New Orleans courtroom did not point out after they would possibly make a ruling on the matter, in line with the AP. Though the panel is called essentially the most conservative appeals courtroom within the nation, it wasn’t obvious from the judges’ line of questioning which method they is perhaps leaning, the story famous.
The buoys will stay within the Rio Grande till a ruling is made.
Thursday’s listening to got here shortly after President Joe Biden, in a surprising reversal, gave the Division of Homeland Safety permission to assemble 20 extra miles of the Trump-era border wall in Starr County, Texas.
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