Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the state of Texas is set to deploy a floating barrier to the Rio Grande as part of plans to deter migrant crossings.
He shared the news after he signed six border security bills. Funding will come from $5.1 billion approved by the state legislature to secure the border.
“What we’re doing now, we’re securing borders on borders,” Abbott said. “What these buoys will allow us to do is prevent people from even reaching the border.”
The first 1,000 feet of floats will be deployed at Eagle Pass, which Steve Macrow, director of the state’s Department of Public Safety, calls “the smuggling center of gravity.” The first deployment will cost less than $1 million and will start “pretty much immediately”. Officials did not give a more specific number for the wall’s cost.
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Member of the Texas National Guard Drowned last year at Eagle Pass While trying to rescue immigrants in the river.
“We don’t want people to come and continue to put their lives at risk when they come between entry points,” McCrow said.
McCraw said the floats have been tested by special operators, tactical operators and Border Patrol professionals. It can be deployed quickly and can be moved as needed.
Officials hope the buoys will act as a deterrent to prevent migrants from entering the water. While there are ways to overcome floaters, which can range in size, it takes a lot of effort and specialized skills.
“You can sit there for a few days and hold on to it, but eventually you’ll get tired and want to go back. You’ll be hungry,” said McCraw.
There will also be ribbons that go down into the water and anchors to the bottom so people can’t swim under them.
The Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens condemned Abbott’s plan. State Administrator Rodolfo Rosales denounced it as an inhuman, barbaric and ill-conceived plan. Rosales said the organization stands against any measure that could lead to the loss of migrant lives, but did not specify what risks the organization felt the buoy barrier could pose.
“We hold them as a frightful reminder of the extreme measures employed by elected leaders throughout history against those whom they did not regard as human, seeking only to annihilate them, no matter what means employed. We bear with horror and deep shame the witness to the consideration of these measures, which are evidently intended to be It would be a political theater but would undoubtedly result in the loss of innocent lives among the refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
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