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MISSION, Texas (Border Report) -- Michael Garza was fishing from a public pier at Anzalduas Park on Monday, staring at five new floating buoys warning that the area is now a military zone.
The warning buoys were recently put in the water, months after the Department of Defense announced that 250 miles along the Rio Grande in the South Texas border counties of Hidalgo and Cameron were now National Defense Areas.
“It almost feels like there’s more eyes on you. There’s more patrols. There’s constantly Border Patrol and constables. Back in the day, we’d come here and it felt like a free area. But now I guess with the way things are with politics and people illegally crossing the border and in through the rivers. I feel like now we’re being affected because now it’s restricting us. Even though we’re the ones not doing anything wrong. We’re just here to have a good time and just enjoy the park," Garza, 32, told Border Report.
Michael Garza, 32, of McAllen, fishes with a friend at Anzalduas Park on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, where five buoys with warning signs have been put up in the Rio Grande declaring the river a U.S. military zone. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report)This is among five NDAs established along the Southwest border from Brownsville, Texas, to Southern California as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration at the southern border.
In the latest episode of Border Report Live, South Texas correspondent Sandra Sanchez shows the new bilingual warning signs on the buoys and explains additional charges that can be levied to those who illegally cross into the United States via a military zone.
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He also talks about a new health initiative in Mexico at the urging of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
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You can also watch past episodes of the Border Report Live, highlighting not only immigration and border security, but cartel violence in Mexico, border trade, politics and the U.S. and Mexico’s ongoing water dispute on the border.
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