The Feds Renew Their Motion To Toss Out All Of Texas's Specious Claims Before USDC Judge Moses -- In The Land Razor Wire Cases, In Del Rio...

We are nearing the end of the line for the land based razor wire cases in West Texas. This motion to dismiss was filed overnight in the trial court, but the Fifth Cir., on appeal, is awaiting an answer from Texas (also by tonight) -- as to why the below pull quote DOES NOT definitively bounce Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton out on their ears. [Hint: it does.]

It is truly all over now, except for the caterwauling by Texas -- and the cruelty of maimed kids, near the shore on the Rio Grande, of course. Here's that cogently-argued motion to end Texas's claims:

“. . .The federal government enjoys complete sovereign immunity except as it has consented to be sued and consented to submit to liability.” In re Supreme Beef Processors, Inc., 468 F.3d 248, 255 (5th Cir. 2006) (en banc). A waiver of sovereign immunity must be “strictly construed, in terms of its scope, in favor of the sovereign.” Lane v. Pena, 518 U.S. 187, 192 (1996). Contrary to Texas’s assertion, see Compl. ¶ 22, 5 U.S.C. § 702 does not include “clear and unambiguous authorization” for state-law claims seeking equitable relief against the federal government. See PI Order at 19. Section 702 states:

“[a]n action in [federal] court. . . seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States.”

Especially when construing the provision in favor of the sovereign, the waiver of sovereign immunity properly is limited to suits arising under federal law and invoking federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. . . .

Congress added the waiver language in 1976, see Pub. L. No. 94-574, 90 Stat. 2721, 2721, to largely “do away with the ultra vires doctrine and other fictions surrounding sovereign immunity.” Geyen v. Marsh, 775 F.2d 1303, 1307 (5th Cir. 1985); see H.R. Rep. No. 94-1656 at 5 (1976); S. Rep. No. 94-966 at 5 (1976). . . .

In sum, Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton cannot win. This is a purely political Kabuki theater moment, unfolding in slow motion -- by Texas, but one that is maiming and killing would-be asylees, day by day. Deplorable.

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