Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas sent a letter Monday to President Joe Biden, formally responding to threats of legal action from the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his states floating buoy barrier installed in the Rio Grande River.
Abbott defended his authority to have the floating buoy barrier built, accusing Biden of flouting U.S. immigration law with his border policies and violating the constitutional rights of states to protect themselves from an “invasion,” the letter read.
The DOJ sent a letter Thursday to Abbott, accusing him of breaking the law, according to CNN.(
Abbott announced in early June the placement of a floating buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River to deter illegal immigration. Before that, he sent two letters, one in November and another in January, to the president that outlined the toll the border crisis presents to the State of Texas.
Related: Biden’s DOJ To Take Legal Action Against Texas Over Floating Border Barrier
Abbott hand-delivered the June letter, which provided border policy suggestions, to Biden while the president paid his first visit to the southern border.
“In a late-night letter sent to me last Thursday, your lawyers at the Department of Justice threatened to sue the State of Texas over the floating marine barriers we have deployed in the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass. Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” the letter read.
“While I share the humanitarian concerns noted in your lawyers’ letter, Mr. President, your finger points in the wrong direction. Neither of us wants to see another death in the Rio Grande River. Yet your open-border policies encourage migrants to risk their lives by crossing illegally through the water, instead of safely and legally at a port of entry. Nobody drowns on a bridge,” the letter read.
Abbott says he intends to keep the barrier in place, according to the letter.
“To end the risk that migrants will be harmed crossing the border illegally, you must fully enforce the laws of the United States that prohibit illegal immigration between ports of entry. In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused,” the letter read.
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