A U.S. Appeals Court has granted Texas an emergency stay, allowing the state to maintain the barriers it installed in the Rio Grande, at least temporarily. This decision comes in response to a federal judge’s order in Austin, issued a day prior, which mandated Texas to relocate the barriers to the riverbank on the Texas side by September 15.
Furthermore, the state was instructed not to add any more structures to or within the river pending the final outcome of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit. The granted stay is in effect “pending further order of the Court,” as stated in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ filing. The Fifth Circuit is expected to conduct a full hearing with arguments from both sides regarding the barriers’ placement in the Rio Grande River.
The Department of Justice initiated the lawsuit against the State of Texas in July, contending that Texas lacked the authority to place the barriers in the river, as it was beyond the state’s jurisdiction.
“The Court is directing that the buoy barrier be moved from the main waters of the Rio Grande River to the riverbank, rather than removal entirely from the river, so that the barrier does not