The Department of Justice is threatening to take Texas to court over the Lone Star states recent controversial measures to keep immigrants from crossing the border.

Both CNN and the Houston Chronicle reported Friday that the Justice Department has sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warning him that the moves raised humanitarian concerns and had not been authorized by the federal government.

Texas has installed floating orange buoys with nets beneath them in the Rio Grande River to make it harder for migrants to swim or wade across. It has also put in place razor wire in some areas to discourage undocumented immigrants from crossing.

The Republican governors moves have been controversial. A state trooper said he encountered a woman having a miscarriage who was trapped in the razor wire, according to an internal Texas Department of Public Safety email obtained by the Dallas Morning News . He was also told to push migrants that made it across the river back into it, the paper said.

The State of Texass actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal governments ability to carry out its official duties, the Department of Justice letter to Abbott reads, according to CNN.

The department also noted federal law prohibits obstructions to navigating U.S. rivers and building any obstructions without first getting a signoff from the U.S. Armys Corps of Engineers.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed to HuffPost that the agency sent Abbott a letter providing notice of our intent to pursue legal action related to unlawful construction of a floating barrier in the Rio Grande River.