Texas asks appeal judges to let it keep floating barrier in place on the Rio Grande

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Attorneys for Texas are asking federal appeals court judges to let the state keep in place a floating barrier to block migrants from crossing the Rio Grande. Three judges with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard arguments Thursday morning. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had workers deploy the roughly 1,000-foot-long string of huge spherical buoys on the river this past summer near the border city of Eagle Pass. A federal district judge ordered them removed, but they have been allowed to stay in place pending the state’s appeal. The judges hearing the case did not indicate when they would rule.