Performances Daily

The U.S. Justice Department sues Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott over the Rio Grande barrier, alleging it was installed without necessary authorization, and obstructs navigation. https://t.co/4jrNsZCfDq

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) July 24, 2023

Yeah, this is a stunt. Maybe because Paxton can’t sue Biden right now. I am curious to see how the Texas AG responds to the suit, because all Abbott’s doing is playing mini-Trump:

Abbott defended his decision to do so as the “commander-in-chief of our State’s militia” and blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policy for the conditions at the border. 

“It has been under your watch that migrants have suffered an unprecedented crisis of inhumanity,” Abbott said in the letter to Biden. “If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration laws.” 

Hours after the lawsuit was filed, Abbott took to Twitter saying, “Texas will see the Biden Administration in court to aggressively defend our sovereign authority to secure the border. Biden’s open border policies created this humanitarian disaster. Texas will continue to exercise our constitutional right to respond,” accompanied by video of him on Fox News discussing the case.

Tweets are not legal arguments, and legal Twitter is the worst. Abbott knows that, although he is the “commander-in-chief of our state’s militia,” the federal government still has superior authority. And Texas gave up its “sovereign authority to secure the border” when it joined the Union (though we should still be able to close our border to Okies. Arkansas is not looking too good, either.). So this is all, as the kids say, performative bullshit.

Here’s the relevant provision of the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C. § 403, that DOJ is claiming Governor Abbott has violated by placing obstructions in the Rio Grande:https://t.co/PqUKn0wIY8

Methinks Texas is going to lose (again). pic.twitter.com/3ZcObGmcO6

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 24, 2023

Yeah, pretty much. Still interested to see how the Texas AG responds to this.