A US federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, citing technical grounds to dismiss a legal challenge against his 2021 executive order that restricted the transportation of migrants through the state. A three-judge panel from the New Orleans-based fifth US circuit court of appeals voted 2-1, determining that immigration advocates lacked the legal authority to sue Abbott over the transportation ban.
This ruling does not impact a similar legal challenge initiated by the Biden administration, thereby maintaining a lower court’s injunction issued in August 2021. Governor Abbott, a Republican, has criticized the Democratic president’s handling of border security and taken measures to address the surge in migrant arrivals in recent years.
The fifth circuit concluded that Abbott’s authority as governor shielded him from legal challenges brought by immigration advocates against the executive order.
Furthermore, the Biden administration has filed a lawsuit against Texas for deploying a series of large buoys along a stretch of the Rio Grande to deter illegal crossings. In September, a US district court judge ordered Texas to relocate these barriers, but the fifth circuit temporarily halted this ruling, pending an appeal by the state of Texas.
