Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Texas DPS, and the Texas Military Department are getting sued over Operation Lone Star after the installation of water buoys in the Rio Grande River and other border protection measures, for disrupting a local business in Eagle Pass. 

Jessie Fuentes owns Epi’s Canoe and Kayak Team in Eagle Pass, Texas. They do tours and training on the Rio Grande River. He is suing over the harm to his business and his livelihood. Fuentes has already had to cancel events due to Operation Lone Star. Fuentes believes that the buoys are going to disrupt his business, and thus his livelihood, for something that is untested in how it impacts crossings and the ecosystem of the river. Thousands of feet of these floating barriers are expected to be placed throughout the Ri Grande River. 

The lawsuit argues that Governor Abbott has no authority to implement and conduct Operation Lone Star. Instead what the Governor has been doing, the lawsuit claims, is taking the role of what the federal government is supposed to do. 

“A governor’s emergency declaration under the Disaster Act cannot authorize Governor Abbott to pull a runaround the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes to grant itself the authority to enforce federal immigration law. As a matter of policy, it is untenable to argue that a declaration under the Disaster Act could allow Texas to grant itself the war and foreign-affairs powers of the federal government,” says the lawsuit.

The lawsuit argues that Texas is trying to act as the federal government taking on the duties that belong to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and The Customs and Border Patrol. What this means is that while Texas is making up for the lack of enforcement from the federal government, they are doing so with powers they do not have.

“Despite no authority to regulate the U.S.- Mexico border, the Defendants have admittedly created their own DHS, CBP, and ICE in the form of DPS and its Texas Tactical Border Force, which is a convoluted way to say border patrol,” states the lawsuit.

Governor Abbott, according to the lawsuit, doesn’t have the authority to regulate the Rio Grande River, either. That authority instead belongs to the International Boundary and Water Commission. Fuentes’ lawsuit states that the Governor is violating the state’s Administrative Procedure Act as well.

Furthermore, the lawsuit argues that Governor Abbott misapplies the Texas legal definition of disaster to regulate the Texas-Mexico border when the law does not state it can be used for those purposes. 

“A plain reading of the…stated provisions reveals as a matter of law that this statute cannot be used to regulate the Texas-Mexico border because none of its definitions address immigrants, the border, or crimes committed by immigrants,” states the lawsuit.

The definition for disaster that the Governor can declare an emergency by Texas law is “the occurrence or imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property resulting from any natural or man-made cause, including fire, flood, earthquake, wind, storm, wave action, oil spill or other water contamination, volcanic activity, epidemic, air contamination, blight, drought, infestation, explosion, riot, hostile military or paramilitary action, extreme heat, cybersecurity event, other public calamity requiring emergency action, or energy emergency (emphasis added).”

The plaintiffs are looking for a declaration that Operation Lone Star is unlawful, and seek a restraining order that prohibits the state from placing the buoys on the river. The plaintiffs additionally want the court to declare that Operation Lone Star and the implementation of the buoys violate the 14th Amendment because of the Mexican-Americans that might be targeted who live in border communities. Furthermore, the Plaintiffs want the judge to state that Operation Lonestar violates the US Constitution and that The Texas Disaster Act does not allow Governor Abbott to proceed with Operation Lone Star.

When it comes to Abbott’s disaster declaration, he is arguing that the man-made disasters listed in the definition apply to immigration. Operation Lone Star has focused on protecting the Texas/Mexican border from illegal immigrants crossing, fentanyl, terrorists, smuggling, etc.

The latest developments include other Republican-led states sending their national guards and state police to enforce border protections, and setting up barriers along the Rio Grande River to prevent immigrants from swimming over.

So if this lawsuit plays out in court, then it will be an interpretation of the Texas legal code for disaster, and if the Governor has the authority to do this.

Abbott believes that Operation Lonestar is the appropriate response to the lack of the federal government’s response to the border. Abbott justifies Operation Lone Star by its results, and the ability to protect Texas from the surge of migrants in Texas. He believes Biden’s immigration policies are failing, and Texas is picking up the slack. Texas is already dealing with lots of crime due to the border crisis including cartel activity, illegal crossings, smuggling, drugs, and terrorists. Abbott is using the definition of disaster in Texas law to say that immigration and the border crisis is a disaster impacting Texans, thus he is lawful to conduct Operation Lone Star and navigate resources the way he sees fit.