Texas Border: River Barrier - Death Trap or Deterrent?

Critics are targeting the "floating barrier" Texas Governor Greg Abbott wants to install in the middle of the Rio Grande.Photo byOffice of Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Texas Governor Greg Abbott's plan to install a "floating barrier" along a portion of the Rio Grande is running into criticism. The Governor plans to install 1,000 feet of linked buoys near Eagle Pass on a river that spans 1,254 miles along the Texas-Mexico border. Though tiny, the barrier will cost $1 million dollars:

The state has selected a dangerous section of the Rio Grande in which to place the barriers - which they say will prevent drownings. Critics fear it will have the opposite effect.

" (It) will undoubtedly result in the loss of innocent lives among the refugees seeking asylum in the United States." -Rodolfo Rosales, LULAC

Though the Governor's office disputes this, they now face a more formidable foe: The International Water & Boundary Commission which controls river rights with Mexico along the border.

"This announcement by the governor caught us by surprise. We are studying what Texas is publicly proposing to determine whether and how this impacts our mission to carry out treaties between the US and Mexico." -International Boundary & Water Commission Statement

Elsewhere along the Rio Grande, the Texas Department of Public Safety rescued two very young children wandering alone after being brought across the river from Mexico into Texas:

Meanwhile, the Governor is honoring the troops & troopers assigned to the border through "Operation Lone Star:"

And in West Texas, the DPS dedicated two patrol boats which will be assigned to the Rio Grande at a ceremony at Lake Brownwood to honor two fallen troopers.

Rio Grande patrol boats dedicated in memory of fallen DPS Troopers: DPS Sergeant William Karl Keesee & Trooper Jonathan Thomas McDonald.Photo byTexas Municipal Police Association

While in Del Rio, the Border Patrol Sector there is remembering a horse that died in the line of duty:

Finally, in the Rio Grande Valley, the Chief of the Border Patrol Sector there is recognizing her agents for finishing another busy & dangerous week along the Texas Border:

Is enough being done to secure the Texas Border? Share your opinions in the comments to this article.

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Other stories by Jack Beavers about Texas Border issues include:

• Go Inside Texas "War Room" in DEA battle against Cartels
• North Korean & Cuban arrested near Texas Border; Mexican President says negotiate with Cartels
• Texas Governor warns of terror risk in migrant crossings
• Mexican Cartels run Texas Border operations as a business: Here's a look inside
• Armed Mexican Cartel Members Cross the Border into Texas

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