Have you heard of Texas governor Abbott setting up barricades in the Rio Grande River? Yesterday, Judge David Ezra of the Western District of Texas concluded that the state must move rows of floating barriers in the Rio Grande whether or not it thinks an “invasion” is underway. The legal decision represents a significant defeat to the major legal and rhetorical justification that Texas state officials including governor Abbott have used to cross into border enforcement, a territory traditionally occupied by the federal government. The buoys have sharp anti-personnel disks similar to circular saw blades. These death traps are discriminatory and punitive for a civil violation. The floating barrier is one part of a larger operation by the state of Texas to get involved in immigration enforcement in ways that are problematic and could be deemed illegal.