(VitalNews.org) – As part of Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently installed a floating barrier in the Rio Grande River in order to stop migrant crossing attempts through the dangerous body of water. But apparently, most of the barrier is in Mexican territory.
The International Boundary and Water Commission recently conducted a survey that found the majority of the buoy barrier set up by the Texas government isn’t in U.S. waters but mostly in Mexican waters. The barrier, which consists of buoys as well as a net extending 1,000 feet into the water below, was put into place as part of Abbott’s response plan to deal with the migrant crisis.
Abbott decided to take things into his own hands to address the migrant crisis, feeling President Joe Biden and his administration had neglected the border state. In fact, the Biden administration sued Texas last month over the water barrier installation, arguing it’s unconstitutional, poses humanitarian concerns, and could destabilize relations with Mexico.
As part of the investigation launched by the Department of Justice, the recent survey found that 787 feet of the 995 feet of buoys are on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande while only 208 are inside U.S. territory.
Abbott installed the barrier in early July after four migrants drowned while trying to cross the river, one of them an infant. The Texas governor dismissed the DOJ request to remove the barrier, saying their “finger points in the wrong direction,” and that he also doesn’t want “to see another death in the Rio Grande.” He then pointed to the “open-border policies” of the Biden administration which Abbott says is encouraging “migrants to risk their lives” by crossing the river to enter the U.S. illegally “instead of safely and legally” at an entry point.
Despite his concern for the four who drowned, two more were found near the buoy barrier this month, and the governor will have to address this as well as the fact that the floating structure is mostly on Mexico’s turf. The Mexican government has already condemned the barrier as a violation of their sovereignty.
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