Texas has a right to defend its own border, Gov. Greg Abbott said on Friday in response to the U.S. Department of Justice demanding the state remove marine barriers placed in the Rio Grande River in the Eagle Pass area of Texas.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DOJ wrote to Abbott in a letter on Thursday. The DOJ gave Abbott until Monday to agree to remove the barriers. If he didn’t agree or reply, the DOJ said it would sue.
The Rio Grande barriers were placed as part of Operation Lone Star, Texas’ border security efforts, to deter individuals from illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
Abbott tweeted from his personal account saying, “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution. We have sent the Biden Administration numerous letters detailing our authority, including the one I hand-delivered to President [Joe] Biden earlier this year.”
The governor was referring to a Jan. 8 encounter when he arrived at the airport in El Paso to greet the president and give him a letter with an outline of solutions to solve the border crisis. Abbott has sent eight letters to the president, he’s previously told The Center Square, and has received no response.
January 2023 was the first time Biden visited the border in Texas during his presidency. Abbott had previously invited him to visit the border and learn about the crisis. The president stopped in El Paso in January on his way to Mexico City and didn’t invite Abbott to join him or attend meetings scheduled with Democratic officials, Abbott has previously explained.
