Texas installs more migrant-deterring buoys along the Rio Grande, Gov. Greg Abbott says

By Aarón Torres | Dallas Morning News (TNS)

AUSTIN — Texas has begun installing more buoys on the Rio Grande, despite an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging their legality, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday.

In a social media post, Abbott said the buoys are “here to stay.” The post included a video of three buoys being placed in the Rio Grande.

“We won’t back down from our mission to deter and repel illegal immigration,” Abbott said on X, formerly Twitter.

It’s unclear where the buoys are being placed or how many are being added. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Abbott did not clarify their location, and his office did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday.

Texas installed a 1,000-foot line of linked buoys in July 2023 in the river in Eagle Pass to deter illegal crossings as part of Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s border security initiative.

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said in a statement that the buoys “have been so successful that not a single migrant has attempted to cross over them.”

The decision comes as migrant encounters have significantly decreased in the Eagle Pass region. In October, the Del Rio Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 8,567 encounters with immigrants, down more than 77% from the more than 38,000 encounters reported in October 2023.

Texas Rep. Eddie Morales, D-Eagle Pass, who has been critical of Abbot’s border security efforts, said the buoys are expensive and temporary, while the state needs cost-effect solutions that are permanent.

“Texas can and should invest in projects along the border that help better equip our law enforcement, Border Patrol, and municipalities deal with these challenges,” Morales said in a text message.

Morales could not confirm the buoys were being installed in Eagle Pass as he was not in town.

The Justice Department sued Texas in July 2023, arguing the buoys should be removed because they violate a federal law that prevents construction on navigable waterways.

The Justice Department declined to comment, agency spokesman Matthew Nies said in an email Wednesday.

Texas argued that the section of the river where the buoys were installed was not navigable and, even if it were, the U.S. Constitution gives the state power to erect the buoys in response to a crush of migrants they have described as an invasion.

In September 2023, federal judge David Ezra issued an injunction ordering the buoys removed from the Rio Grande.

Abbott appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which supported Ezra’s order in a 2-1 ruling.

Texas sought a full hearing before the court’s 17 active judges. In July, the full court lifted Ezra’s injunction, clearing the way for a trial on the legality of the buoys. The trial, originally scheduled to start after the Nov. 5 election, has been postponed.

The original string of buoys has remained in the Rio Grande throughout the lawsuit.

©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Visit dallasnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Texas installs more migrant-deterring buoys along the Rio Grande, Gov. Greg Abbott says appeared first on MyRGV.com.