Texas National Guard troops stationed along the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass as part of Gov. Abbott’s Operation Lone Star keep watch for migrants attempting to enter the U.S. Credit: Michael Karlis
Texas’ sawblade-laden buoys will remain in the Rio Grande, for now, after a federal appeals court granted the state’s request to pitch out another judge’s order that the barrier must be removed by Sept. 15, the Texas Tribune reports.

In a Wednesday ruling, Federal District Judge David A. Ezra sided with the U.S. Justice Department, who argued the Rio Grande buoys — deployed in July as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star — were installed without authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and threatened foreign relations with Mexico, as previously reported by the Current.

Abbott’s office immediately appealed Ezra’s ruling, writing that it “is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the Tribune reports.

On Thursday, a New Orleans-based federal appeals court — usually considered the most conservative in the nation — granted the state’s request to halt the temporary injunction.

While the buoys will remain, it’s unclear for how long. The appeals court has not yet set a hearing date .

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This article appears in Sep 6-19, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...