AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Texas will soon deploy a string of buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande River in a new effort to deter migrants, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
A 1,000-foot long set of marine floating barriers will be placed in the river near Eagle Pass by July 7, state officials said. Each buoy is about 4 feet in diameter.<\/p>\n
If the initial test works, \u201cwe can put mile after mile after mile of these buoys\u201d in the water at locations where crossings by large groups of migrants are expected, Abbott said. It\u2019s unclear how long the test will last.<\/p>\n
The buoys will create \u201ca layering effect,\u201d combined with concertina wire laid on the bank of the river by Texas National Guard and swiftly mobilized formations of state police and soldiers standing nearby, Abbott said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat these buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from even getting to the border,\u201d the three-term Republican governor said at a Capitol news conference.<\/p>\n
Abbott spoke after signing six border-related bills sent to him by the Legislature in the session that ended on Memorial Day. The measures are in addition to $5.1 billion in the new state budget that\u2019s on Abbott\u2019s desk and a bill before lawmakers in their special session that would authorize a prison sentence of at least 10 years on smugglers of migrants.<\/p>\n
The new laws compensate farmers and ranchers whose land is damaged by migrants, authorize the Texas Military Department to use drones at the border and declare Mexican drug cartels \u201cforeign terrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Posters the governor displayed showing aerial and close-up photos of the buoys included the logo of Cochrane USA, a subsidiary of the fencing company Cochrane International.<\/p>\n
The cost of the initial deployment in Maverick County will be \u201cunder $1 million,\u201d said Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.<\/p>\n
Reaction from staunch opponents of President Joe Biden\u2019s immigration policies was favorable.<\/p>\n
The Texas Public Policy Foundation supports the inflatable barrier because it might help stop migrants from wanting to cross into Texas through bodies of water, said Joshua Trevino, chief of intelligence and research for the conservative think tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly passes the common sense test,\u201d Trevino said. \u201cGiven that this is an effort by the state to fulfill its legitimate, constitutional function of controlling its own international border, then we support it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wade Miller, executive director of Citizens for Renewing America, another conservative group, said time will tell if the tactic is effective.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny type of barrier that makes cartel-controlled human and child trafficking more difficult is moral policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key here is if it actually stops people from trying to cross the border,\u201d said Miller, who previously served as chief of staff to Texas Rep. Chip Roy. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t significantly stop illegal crossings, then it\u2019s a waste of taxpayer funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, called it \u201coverreach\u201d by Abbott and said the state should invest in border communities, not usurp the federal government\u2019s role as enforcer of immigration laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople already face the risk of drowning in the Rio Grande due to plants, debris and an unpredictable current,\u201d said Garza, who was the Democratic nominee for Texas attorney general in 2022.\u201dThese barriers would only add to the danger they already face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramona Casas of ARISE Adelante, a group that organizes residents of colonias in the Rio Grande Valley, took issue with officials saying the buoys are a way to further protect Texas from undocumented immigrants crossing into the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you hear the phrase \u2018protect the border,\u2019 it\u2019s like viewing migrants as an enemy or a threat,\u201d Casas said in Spanish. \u201cI don\u2019t think that a family or a child or a single mother that\u2019s looking to claim asylum and protection are people we need to defend ourselves from.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCraw noted that the buoys, as well as the concertina wire that has been used in Abbott\u2019s Operation Lone Star over the past two years, are mobile.<\/p>\n
They can be placed in a location, gathered up and then transported to a different part of the river, the state police chief explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something we can do quickly,\u201d McCraw said. \u201cWe can put it there and it deters the large groups of people from moving in that area. We can control it …, along with the deployment of razor wire and a sufficient number of soldiers and troopers. It\u2019s an in-depth defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. Border Patrol originated the idea of placing strings of buoys in the river, and conducted tests to make sure there was minimal risk of harming migrants, McCraw said.<\/p>\n
Asked if the buoys would help migrants by providing a place to rest before proceeding, McCraw said they would not.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the water and the buoys, it\u2019s very difficult to be able to go through these,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s ways to overcome it. But it takes great effort. It takes specialized skills and equipment to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbott and McCraw said state officials carefully weighed any safety risks posed by the strings of floating barriers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want anybody to get hurt. In fact, we want to prevent people from getting hurt, prevent people from drowning,\u201d McCraw said.<\/p>\n
The buoys rotate and are made of polyethylene, contain \u201cclosed cell marine foam\u201d and include galvanized fixtures and steel components, said DPS spokesman Travis Considine.<\/p>\n
Asked if migrants could foil a string of buoys simply by swimming underwater, Considine replied:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a substantial barrier on a body of moving water that is already dangerous to cross, making it much more difficult for an individual to cross illegally and impossible for human smugglers to use rafts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a92023 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/p>\n
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