(NewsNation) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to expand buoy barriers across the Rio Grande to stop migrants from crossing the southern border despite border crossings dropping in the state.
State crews were surveying the area near Shelby Park of the river and barriers are expected to be placed in heavy crossing areas as early as Wednesday, multiple sources told NewsNation.
Abbott has maintained that Texas will have a proactive versus reactive stance at the border and will be prepared should a surge happen ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been preparing for surges at the southern border in anticipation of people trying to enter the U.S. before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
To that end, Texas DPS officers have been conducting “mass migration response” exercises along the border. Among the strategies is stationing DPS officers in their vehicles, with flashing red and blue lights, every few hundred feet along the border.
Abbott’s use of buoys has faced multiple legal challenges.
In July, the entire appeals court for the 5th U.S. Circuit overturned a previous decision by a divided panel of the court that sided with a federal district judge, who ruled that the buoys must be moved under a preliminary injunction.
The full bench said the court abused its discretion in granting the injunction.
The broader lawsuit is still underway, where the Biden administration accuses Texas of violating the federal Rivers and Harbor Act. The court will decide the merits of the federal government’s claims.
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