Texas’ Buoy Barrier to Remain In Place

From misleading headlines to the 5th Circuit Court issuing a stay allowing Texas to keep its buoy barrier in the Rio Grande River — the inhumane contraption dreamed up by someone who clearly doesn’t value non-white lives — was never going anywhere. The September 6 order from Judge Ezra in Austin, Texas — which every news outlet cited — never said to “remove,” the barrier but rather, to simply “repositioning” it. “With respect to the buoy barrier that is currently in place, this is a Preliminary Injunction and not a final disposition of this case on the full merits, so this Court is counseled to act in a measured way,” reads a footnote in Judge Ezra’s Sep. 6 decision. “As a result, the Court is directing that the buoy barrier be moved from the main waters of the Rio Grande River to the riverbank, rather than removal entirely from the river, so that the barrier does not impede or impair in any way navigation by airboats or other shallow draft craft along the Rio Grande River.” Clearly, most reporters aren’t aware that riverbanks include water to a certain point according to Texas law (and the laws in other states). With that said, moving a barrier a few feet over means the barrier is still there, just relocated. The misleading nature of the headlines we saw for two days led many to believe the decision was a victory. When I cited the order and tried to explain it, it only seemed to anger people as they refused to make corrections. Those headlines are still up, by the way. <a href="https://momentum.medium.com/texas-buoy-barrier-to-remain-in-place-c81be3951d2d">Read More</a>