Abbott Refuses DOJ Demand to Remove ‘Cruel’ River Barriers From Border: ‘Texas Will See You In Court’
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) refused a demand Monday from the Department of Justice to remove a floating barrier placed by his administration in the Rio Grande River to try and deter migrant crossings. The DOJ gave Abbott until Monday at 2 p.m. to comply or face legal action and as Abbott blew past the deadline he sent the Biden administration a letter declaring, “Texas will see you in court.”
“If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws,” Abbott wrote in the letter sent Monday.
“By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande River. You can also help me save Texans, and indeed all Americans, from deadly drugs like fentanyl, cartel violence, and the horrors of human trafficking. 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,” the letter added.
MSNBC’s Julia Ainsley reported on Texas’s refusal to remove the barrier and noted “We will have the federal government suing Texas over its immigration policies because they say not only is this inhumane, they’ve said they think this will lead to more drownings of migrants.”
“They’ve also said the concertina wire that Texas has put up among this stretch along the section of the border has led to a lot of medical problems, a lot of people being cut by this wire,” Ainsley continued, laying out the federal government’s case against the barriers put in place by Texas.
“They say it’s also not only inhumane, but it’s impeding some of their work there because border agents are now having to stop to render medical aid rather than do their work along the border. So this is really teeing up to be a case that could be a political showdown, as Texas Governor Greg Abbott tries to show that he is able to do more on immigration than the Biden administration,” Ainsley concluded.
Abbott’s refusal to remove the barrier comes a week after a “Texas trooper recently made alarming allegations about the state operation, detailing reports of migrants, including children and a pregnant woman, being cut by the razor wire and directives to withhold water from migrants and to push them into the Rio Grande.” CBS reported at the time that “Texas officials are investigating the allegations, but have denied the existence of orders to deny migrants water or to push them into the river.”
Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.
