By Ted Hesson and Daniel Wiessner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. federal appeals on Friday sided with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on technical grounds over a 2021 executive order that restricted transport of migrants through the state, saying a lower court should dismiss a related legal challenge.
In a 2-1 split, a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that immigration advocates lacked the legal authority to sue Abbott over the transportation prohibition.
The ruling does not affect a similar legal challenge brought by President Joe Biden's administration, leaving an August 2021 lower court's injunction in place.
Abbott, a Republican, has criticized Democrat Biden for failing to adequately secure the border and stepped up the state's response to record migrant arrivals in recent years.
The 5th Circuit found that Abbott's authority as governor barred the immigration advocates from challenging the executive order.
The Biden administration has also sued Texas over its installation of a string of large buoys in a stretch of the Rio Grande to deter illegal crossings.
A U.S. district court judge in September ordered Texas to move the barriers, but the 5th Circuit stayed that ruling pending an appeal by Texas.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Dan Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
