(Trends Wide) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced plans Thursday to deploy a floating marine barrier along the Rio Grande River to deter illegal border crossings between the United States and Mexico.
The announcement came during a bill signing in Austin, Texas.
Abbott, a longtime critic of the Biden administration’s border policies, said he intends to float the first 1,000 feet of the barrier on the river near the Maverick County town of Eagle Pass. In 2022, a Texas National Guardsman drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to rescue a woman crossing the river.
“This is a new water barrier (…) We can put kilometer after kilometer after kilometer of these buoys,” said the governor while showing an illustration of the buoy barrier. “What we are doing now is protecting the border at the border, and what these buoys will allow us to do is stop people from reaching the border,” he added.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks next to an illustration of the water barriers he plans to install in the Rio Grande River on June 08, 2023 in Austin (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks next to an illustration of the water barriers he plans to install in the Rio Grande River on June 08, 2023 in Austin (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steven McCraw, also present at the event, stressed that the buoy barrier can be “quickly deployed” and moved, since it is mobile.
While explaining the idea, McCraw stated that the floating buoy barrier is something that the US Border Patrol has designed and tested.
“We don’t want anybody to get hurt,” McGraw said. “In fact, we want to prevent people from getting hurt, from drowning, and this in a proactive way.”
McGraw said the floating barrier will be a deterrent to prevent migrants from entering the Rio Grande.
“The important thing is that the governor was also concerned about the loss of life, whether this was going to pose a risk to immigrants coming across, to family units, and the answer is that every time they go into the water it’s a risk to immigrants,” McGraw said.
He admitted there were “ways to get around” the floating barrier but “it requires a lot of effort, specialized skills and equipment to do it.”
This is what the floating barriers on the Rio Grande would look like. (Credit: Texas Department of Public Safety)
McGraw explained that the buoy will be anchored to the bottom of the waterway. He added that the buoys are approximately 1.2 to 2 meters high, depending on the water level.
And he stated that the cost of the first deployment is less than a million dollars.
David Donatti, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, responded to the plan by saying, “The chain of buoys along the Rio Grande is just the latest in a string of gifts from the state to private contractors to fuel the governor’s fabricated crisis in the border. The floating buoys will not address the real and important reasons why people are coming to the United States. The buoys are a blight on the moral conscience of Texas.”
McGraw said the initial deployment date is July 7.
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(Trends Wide) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced plans Thursday to deploy a floating marine barrier along the Rio Grande River to deter illegal border crossings between the United States and Mexico.
The announcement came during a bill signing in Austin, Texas.
Abbott, a longtime critic of the Biden administration’s border policies, said he intends to float the first 1,000 feet of the barrier on the river near the Maverick County town of Eagle Pass. In 2022, a Texas National Guardsman drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to rescue a woman crossing the river.
“This is a new water barrier (…) We can put kilometer after kilometer after kilometer of these buoys,” said the governor while showing an illustration of the buoy barrier. “What we are doing now is protecting the border at the border, and what these buoys will allow us to do is stop people from reaching the border,” he added.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks next to an illustration of the water barriers he plans to install in the Rio Grande River on June 08, 2023 in Austin (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks next to an illustration of the water barriers he plans to install in the Rio Grande River on June 08, 2023 in Austin (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steven McCraw, also present at the event, stressed that the buoy barrier can be “quickly deployed” and moved, since it is mobile.
While explaining the idea, McCraw stated that the floating buoy barrier is something that the US Border Patrol has designed and tested.
“We don’t want anybody to get hurt,” McGraw said. “In fact, we want to prevent people from getting hurt, from drowning, and this in a proactive way.”
McGraw said the floating barrier will be a deterrent to prevent migrants from entering the Rio Grande.
“The important thing is that the governor was also concerned about the loss of life, whether this was going to pose a risk to immigrants coming across, to family units, and the answer is that every time they go into the water it’s a risk to immigrants,” McGraw said.
He admitted there were “ways to get around” the floating barrier but “it requires a lot of effort, specialized skills and equipment to do it.”
This is what the floating barriers on the Rio Grande would look like. (Credit: Texas Department of Public Safety)
McGraw explained that the buoy will be anchored to the bottom of the waterway. He added that the buoys are approximately 1.2 to 2 meters high, depending on the water level.
And he stated that the cost of the first deployment is less than a million dollars.
David Donatti, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, responded to the plan by saying, “The chain of buoys along the Rio Grande is just the latest in a string of gifts from the state to private contractors to fuel the governor’s fabricated crisis in the border. The floating buoys will not address the real and important reasons why people are coming to the United States. The buoys are a blight on the moral conscience of Texas.”
McGraw said the initial deployment date is July 7.
