While We Await Appeals, In The Fifth -- The Trial Court Has Consented To An Added Count In The Rio Grande/Eagle Pass Razor Wire Case...

The newly amended complaint was just filed by the Biden Administration, this afternoon, in dusty, scorching hot West Texas. It blasts a gaping hole in Gov. Abbott's and Texas GOP's little tug-boat, well below the water-line.

That is, as amended, it explains forcefully that independent of all else, Gov. Abbott has violated a supreme US / Mexico treaty, one made at the end of the Mexican/American War in 1848 -- that prevents either nation from doing anything that. . . "may" impede the waterway. No need to show it actually does; just prove it "may impede" -- and Texas and Abbott. . . lose.

Of course, Abbott's entire goal was to impede foot traffic through the waterway. And Mexico as well as the federal US government may force him to remove it. That is as plain as day. So here it the red-line -- and the operative new bits:

. . .The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution directs that: “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. . . . The 1848 Treaty, known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ended the MexicanAmerican War, with Mexico ceding certain of its territory to the United States in exchange for payment of millions of dollars. . . .

Accordingly, under the 1848 Treaty, the United States “shall” not construct anything in the Rio Grande that “may” impede or interrupt navigation on the Rio Grande River in any way without Mexico’s consent. This free-navigation requirement is binding and self-executing.

The 1848 Treaty requires that navigation on the Rio Grande “shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both countries; and neither shall, without the consent of the other, construct any work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise of this right; not even for the purpose of favoring new methods of navigation.” 1848 Treaty, art. VII, 1848 WL 6374, at *4. . . .

The free-navigation requirement of the 1848 Treaty is self-executing and thus binding on Texas. . . . The Floating Barrier constructed by Texas is “a work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise” of the right of “the vessels and citizens of both countries” to navigate the river. 1848 Treaty, art. VII, 1848 WL 6374, at *4. Texas’s placement of the Floating Barrier in the Rio Grande, without the permission of Mexico, is inconsistent with the 1848 Treaty and is preempted. . . .

Yep -- Texas Gov. Abbott. . . just got his hind parts. . . handed to him. Hilarious. Game. Set. Match. Again.

Out.

नमस्ते