The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit against Texas and its Republican governor for placing buoys in the Rio Grande as part of the state’s effort to deter migrants from crossing into the United States.
The civil suit said Gov. Greg Abbott violated federal law by installing the barrier and asked a judge to order the defendants to “promptly remove the unauthorized obstruction” at their own expense.
The lawsuit cites the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 which bars the “creation of any obstruction not affirmatively authorized by Congress, to the navigable capacity of any of the waters of the United States.”
