Greg Abbott scores legal win over Texas border

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has secured a legal win in his battle to keep floating buoys in the Rio Grande river to discourage migrant crossings after a judge backed his motion to exclude expert witness testimony from Adrian Cortez.

Cortez, who works for the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), had provided testimony in the case, but his authority to do so was challenged by Abbott’s legal team.

In a ruling, Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell granted the motion and excluded Cortez “from offering expert testimony in this matter.”

The Context

Abbott has clashed repeatedly with the Biden administration over how to handle illegal immigration across the Texas-Mexico border. As part of his Operation Lone Star, which Abbott launched in March 2021, he deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and placed razor wire along the border. Simultaneously, large floating buoys, separated by circular saw like sheets of metal, have been put in the Rio Grande in a bid to stop river crossings.

In July 2023, the federal government filed a lawsuit requiring Texan authorities to remove the buoys, which it claimed obstructed a navigable waterway, thus violating the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899. This is being contested by the State of Texas, which insists the Rio Grande isn’t navigable at the point where the buoys were installed.

To support its case, the government requested testimony from dozens of experts including Cortez, who works for the U.S. section of the IBWC and was asked to give evidence on water releases from Amistad Dam.

Separately, in January the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could remove razor wire from the border, sparking a furious response from Abbott, who claimed his state was facing an “invasion.

What We Know

In his judgement, which was filed on Tuesday, Judge Howell granted Abbott’s motion, meaning Cortez has been excluded “from offering expert testimony in this matter.”

The evidence Cortez was due to give could have supported the federal government’s claim that the Rio Grande is navigable at the point where the floating buoys were installed, thus making this a violation of the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act.

In a court filling, Abbott’s legal team insisted the federal government “cannot meet its burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Cortez has relevant and reliable opinions about the decision factors and procedures for water releases from Amistad Dam.”

“Mr. Cortez is a fact witness and admitted that he has no expert opinions in this case about the decision factors for water releases from Amistad Dam.”

Abbott’s team concluded: “Plaintiff cannot meet its burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Cortez has relevant and reliable opinions because, by Mr. Cortez’s own admission, he is either not an expert or has no expert opinions on the topics for which he was identified as an expert witness.”

Newsweek contacted Cortez for comment via an email sent to the International Boundary and Water Commission outside of usual business hours on Wednesday. The offices of Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were also contacted by email and telephone, respectively.