En Banc Fifth Circuit Rules for Texas in Water Buoy Case, but Doesn't Resolve Issue of Whether Illegal Migration Qualifies as "Invasion"

(Illustration: Lex Villena; Free Speech Coalition)

Yesterday, in United States v. Abbott, the en banc US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Texas in a case where the federal government is suing the state for installing floating buoy barriers in the Rio Grande River to block migration and drug smuggling, thereby creating safety hazards and possibly impeding navigation. The Biden Administration claimed this violates the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.