Justice Department Sues Texas Over Floating Barriers in Rio Grande 

The Justice Department Monday announced it is suing Texas to force the state to remove the floating barriers Gov. Gregg Abbott placed in the Rio Grande to deter migrant crossings. 

It is seeking an injunction to prevent the state from building more barriers in the river and is asking a court to order the state to remove the existing barriers at its own expense. 

The federal agency alleges in the lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in the Western District of Texas, that the state and its governor violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act by creating a barrier in U.S. waters without permission from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. 

The lawsuit says the barriers “constitute an unauthorized obstruction to the navigable capacity of waters of the United States.”

The White House released a statement on the lawsuit, saying Abbott’s “dangerous and unlawful actions are undermining” Biden’s border enforcement plan and is making it harder for Border Patrol to do its job. 

“If Governor Abbott truly wanted to drive toward real solutions, he'd be asking his Republican colleagues in Congress why they voted against President Biden's request to increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security and why they're blocking the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures that would finally fix our broken immigration system.”

The lawsuit comes just hours after Abbott said earlier he would not be ordered to remove them, saying  in a letter to President Joe Biden, "Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.”

The move is the latest installment of an ongoing feud between Abbott and the Biden Administration. 

The Justice Department told Texas last week to remove the barriers and imposed a Monday deadline. 

Monday night, Abbott was on Fox News to discuss his reaction to the lawsuit.

"Texas will see the Biden Administration in court to aggressively defend our sovereign authority to secure the border," he said via Twitter, along with a clip from his interview. "Biden's open border policies created this humanitarian disaster. Texas will continue to exercise our constitutional right to respond.