Republican Judges Deal Blow to Greg Abbott in Border Fight

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was dealt a legal blow by one of the most conservative courts in the country amid his battle over the U.S.-Mexico border against President Joe Biden.

Abbott, a Republican, has been engaged in legal battles against the Biden administration over his authority to construct border security measures along the southern border amid an uptick in migrant arrivals in recent months. There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Abbott has argued the arrival of migrants at the Texas border the arrival of migrants at the Texas border constitutes an "invasion" of the state and invoked "Texas's constitutional authority to defend and protect itself." However, he has faced some courtroom losses as the Biden administration fights back, with the United States Supreme Court siding with Biden in a key case about whether federal border agents can take town razor wire constructed by the Texas National Guard.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, viewed by legal experts as one of the most conservative courts in the U.S., delivered another legal loss to Abbott last week. The ruling came in a separate case about whether Texas can construct a floating barrier in the Rio Grande.

In September 2023, Judge David A. Ezra ruled that Texas must remove the barrier pending the final ruling on the matter. A Fifth Circuit panel upheld the temporary injunction in a 2-1 vote in December. In January, however, the court agreed to a new hearing that would involve the entire court, not just the 3-judge panel.

Meanwhile, Abbott's legal team filed a request with the Fifth Circuit to "stay trial proceedings" as Judge Ezra scheduled a March trial for the case that would overlap with the appeals court's timeline to hear arguments on the preliminary injunction.

On Thursday, however, seven Republican judges on the court sided with Democrats to reject Texas' plea.

While the Republican judges were broadly critical of Ezra's timeline, most concluded that Texas' attorneys did not meet the requirements to halt trial proceedings.

Circuit Judge Don R. Willett, who was appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump, wrote that the "rushed schedule" is "questionable" but "not mandamus-able."

"Despite our misgivings about the district court's decisions, we cannot say that the rigorous criteria for mandamus are fulfilled. The district court's scheduling orders although questionable, fall shy of showing a "persistent disregard of the Rules of Civil Procedure" or a pattern of noncompliance that could justify mandamus relief," he wrote.

Four other Republican-appointed judges signed onto that opinion, including Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, appointed by former President George W. Bush.

Judge Edith Jones, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, wrote that while she believes the "district court abused its discretion in its trial setting and pretrial deadlines," she "reluctantly" sided against Texas.

In the January motion urging the court to stay Ezra's court proceedings, Abbott's legal team wrote, "Rushing a trial in this important matter before completion of en banc review would waste resources of this Court, the district court, and the parties. It would also significantly prejudice Texas's sovereign interest in defending itself and the rights of millions of Texans."

Newsweek reached out to Abbott's office for comment via email.