Texas again deployed a barrier to deter migrants without a federal permit. This time at the New Mexico border

A battle is quietly brewing between Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration over the state’s deployment of razor wire at its border with neighboring New Mexico – its latest effort to curb illegal immigration on federal land without a permit.

The International Boundary and Water Commission, which administers the boundary and water treaties between the US and Mexico, told the Texas National Guard earlier this month that it is “encroaching on federal property” and that such activity could “lead to violations of federal laws, international agreements, and hydraulic issues within the flood plain” of the Rio Grande, according to an email first obtained by CNN.

According to the IBWC, an international body made up of a Mexican section and a US section headquartered in El Paso, Texas, the “encroachment” is on federal property in Texas that includes the floodplain of the Rio Grande, north of the US-Mexico border stopping just shy of the New Mexico state boundary line.

While the IBWC did not describe the “encroachment” as razor wire in its letter, New Mexico Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez told CNN his office was the first to speak with the IBWC and inform them that concertina wire had been installed on Texas’ side of the Rio Grande. It was installed, he said, “without the knowledge or approval of the IBWC, (his) office or local New Mexico officials.”

“This barrier is both unamerican and unconstitutional and needs to be removed immediately,” Vasquez, who toured the area on Monday, said in a statement.

The Rio Grande falls under multiple boundary and water treaties between the US and Mexico, and IBWC applies the rights and obligations assumed by the countries for the benefits of the people on both sides of the border. Those rights and obligations include the distribution of water and the preservation of the river….