Abbott: 'Texas will take the Biden administration all the way to the Supreme Court'

Gov. Greg Abbott remains defiant in his latest efforts to secure the southern border with Mexico – deploying floating barriers in the Rio Grande River – even as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit over the action. CBS News reported that top DOJ lawyers told Abbott and other state officials last week that legal action would be forthcoming unless the barriers were taken down.

“Texas deployed marine barriers on the Rio Grande to ramp up our efforts to deter illegal border crossings,” the governor said in a tweet on July 25. “Texas will take the Biden administration all the way to the Supreme Court to defend our sovereign authority to respond to the border crisis."

According to CBS News, despite the DOJ’s threats of civil litigation, Abbott appeared undeterred, writing in a letter to the Biden administration that, “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.” The federal government went ahead with its suit, CBS reported, asserting the Lone Star State broke a federal navigable waters law with the barriers, and interfered with federal law enforcement in apprehending migrants.

In a press release issued by the Office of the Texas Governor, Abbott said the U.S. Constitution allows the state to exercise sovereign authority in protecting the border with Mexico. “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 governor said to President Joe Biden in the letter dated July 24. “In the meantime, Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused.”

Illegal immigration has been a source of anger and frustration for Abbott and his fellow Republicans toward the White House in the last two years, according to an Austin Journal report from Jan. 9, 2023. The White House’s purported lack of response to the crisis had prompted Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to take matters into their own hands and bus migrants to what they call left-leaning areas, the publication reported.