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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has enlisted a dozen experts to testify for the state in its legal fight with President Joe Biden's administration over a floating barrier of giant buoys in the Rio Grande.
Texas placed the 1,000-foot-long barrier in the Rio Grande in July 2023, one of several aggressive measures the Republican governor has taken to secure the border and curb migrant crossings.
The Biden administration sued, alleging the buoys are covered by a law that requires states to get federal approval before obstructing navigable waterways. It is one of several disputes in Abbott's battle with the administration over immigration enforcement.
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Much of a hearing before the full U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month dealt with whether the administration is correct that the Rio Grande is subject to federal regulation as a navigable waterway, The Associated Press reported.
Texas says the stretch of river where the buoys are located is rocky and shallow, whereas the Biden administration has pointed to past ferry traffic in the area, the use of the area by vessels with the U.S. Coast Guard and the International Boundary and Water Commission and the possibility of projects in the future to make the stretch better suited for commercial traffic, according to the AP.
On Friday, attorneys for Texas filed 12 reports by experts and identified those who may be called to testify on the state's behalf at trial. Several of the experts argued that the Rio Grande, including the stretch where the barrier is located, is not "navigable."
A report prepared by Eleftherios Iakovou, a professor of engineering technology and industrial distribution at Texas A&M University, argues that the Rio Grande "currently is not commercially navigable" and there are "not any technically and economically feasible improvement alternatives to achieve the commercial operation that could establish it as a viable Inland Waterway Transportation (IWT) corridor of the Highway of Commerce."
Thomas Ciarametaro, the owner of a consulting firm who has 18 years of experience in the maritime and homeland security industries, said in a report that the Rio Grande, between mile markers 275.5 and 610, "does not meet the criteria of a navigable waterway conducive to commercial activities, and many factors render it unsuitable for commercial vessel navigation."
And a report prepared by Carlos Rubinstein and Herman Settemeyer of environmental consulting firm RSAH20 said the Rio Grande, including the section where the barrier is located, is "not presently used or suitable for use, in its natural condition, as a highway for interstate or foreign commerce and trade in the normal ways that commerce and trade presently are carried on via navigation."
Attorneys for Texas and the U.S. Department of Justice have been contacted for comment via email.
Abbott has repeatedly blamed Biden's policies for a surge in illegal border crossings and touted his efforts to secure the southern border.
As well as the floating barrier of buoys, Texas has installed razor wire fencing along the border, bussed migrants to Democratic-led states and passed a law that would allow the state to arrest and deport people who enter the U.S. illegally.
Biden, under pressure to tamp down on illegal border crossings ahead of November's election, earlier this month signed an executive order that triggers a halt on asylum processing when arrests for illegal entry reach 2,500 per day. It took immediate effect since daily figures were already higher than that.
Abbott blasted the order, saying it "does not in any way address the border crisis [Biden] created and will in no way reduce illegal immigration into the United States."
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