Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Ram. The Justice Department is preparing

to file a lawsuit over the deployment of a booey barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande.

From Texas Public Radio, David Martin Davies reports.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott installed the floating barrier to prevent migrants from swimming

across the border river and entering Texas. He also ordered the placement of miles of

razor concertino wire on the Texas side of the river. In a letter to Abbott, the Justice Department

claims these actions, quote, violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns present serious

risk to public safety and the environment and may interfere with the federal government's

ability to carry out its official duties. Abbott responded by tweeting that Texas has the

sovereign authority to defend its border, adding, we'll see you in court, Mr. President.

I'm David Martin Davies and San Antonio. Alabama's Republican Party is defending a new

congressional voting map that critics say defies an order from the Supreme Court prohibiting racial

jurymandering. Alabama Public Radio's Pat Duggan's reports on a dispute over what defines greater

representation for African American voters. The Supreme Court upheld a three-judge panel's

ruling ordering Alabama to redraw its map to create a second black majority congressional district

or something close to it. State lawmakers kept one black majority district and then increased

African American voting strength from about 30 percent to 40 percent in a second district.

Alabama GOP Chairman John Wall says that's a fair outcome. If you look at what the lower court

actually said, they never required two minority districts. And I think that's important because

there's a lot of things that go into a map besides just the population of different demographics.

Voting rights advocates and black lawmakers say the new map harkens back to the days of the

Jim Crow South where black voters were treated unfairly. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggan's in Tuscaloosa,

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