Subject: Re: Trump's fascist tilt
Dopester: There's a reason why Biden keeps suing to stop Texas from putting up barriers and enforcing the law. It's because it's working.

We have neighbors that you shouldn't treat like they don't exist, Dope. We have treaties that govern this that Abbot is violating.

SNIP Mexico, departing from its longstanding diplomatic posture of expressing behind-the-scenes concern but engaging in public forbearance on matters of boundary related treaty interpretation, publicly denounced the buoys as violations of the 1944 and 1970 treaties and humanitarian law (Roberto Salmon, email to Stephen Mumme, Nov. 29, 2023; Bach 2023; Higham 2023). It raised the matter directly with the U.S. Secretary of State and dispatched a team to determine if the 1,000-foot string of buoys intruded on the Mexican side of the river. It did.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) then sued Texas. While noting the potential treaty abuses, DOJ pinned its case on alleged violations of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, a statute that placed permitting of works in navigable rivers under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Knutson, 2023; USEPA 2023). Texas countered that the Rio Grande, at least in its Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras reach, was not a navigable river:

On Sept. 6, 2023, a federal judge of the U.S. Western District in Austin, Texas, ordered the buoys’ removal, siding with DOJ (Miroff 2023; Rose 2023).
Texas immediately appealed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which promptly granted a stay of action. However, a three-judge panel ruled against that appeal on Dec. 1, 2023, noting that the Western District court properly considered “the threat to navigation and federal government operations on the Rio Grande as well as the potential threat to human life the floating barrier created” (Beitsch 2023; Wiessner, 2023; Zhang 2023).
Texas appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit’s plenary body and asserted that failing its appeal it would take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court (Gonzalez 2023; Wallace 2023). The 5th Circuit, on January 17, agreed to grant Texas an En Banc (plenary) hearing (Wallace 2024; Weissner 2024). The case will be heard in May 2024.SNIP