The latest measure in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's border crackdown "Operation Lone Star" makes it a state crime to enter Texas illegally from a foreign country.
The judge gave Texas until Sept. 15 to move the barrier to shore and barred the state from placing any additional buoys or other structures in the river. Gov. Greg Abbott plans to appeal the ruling.
Mexico has sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. expressing concern that barriers on the river may violate treaties on boundaries and water. Mexico has already asked that the barriers be removed.
Jason Owens, the head of a busy Border Patrol sector in Del Rio, Texas, will lead the agency, the Biden administration announced. His predecessor is retiring at the end of the month.
In Brownsville, Texas, two Mexican restaurants are pushing the envelope of what a corn tortilla can envelop, and an award-winning cafe cooks barbacoa the old-fashioned way.
The privately built border wall in Texas teeters on the banks of the Rio Grande with serious erosion problems. The contractor was awarded more than $2 billion in official wall contracts.
