Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) announced Thursday that buoys will be deployed in the Rio Grande to deter migrants.
The measure is the result of the cooperation of Abbott’s office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the National Guard in utilizing $5.1 billion granted by the Texas legislature toward securing the border. Its first line of defense, at about 1,000 feet long, costing $1 million, will be at Eagle Pass bordering Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
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“We’re securing the border at the border,” the Republican governor said at a news conference Thursday. “What these buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from even getting to the border.”
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw called it “another tool” to combat Mexican cartels, which McCraw referred to as “public enemy number one,” from trafficking people via the river. However, according to the director, it will also prevent those who try to cross from drowning in the river, as it is the same spot where a Texas National Guard soldier from Arlington drowned last year.
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Abbott went on to sign six total bills surrounding new border legislation. Among the new laws, Texas designated cartels as terrorist organizations, legalized the use of drones for the state’s military forces, and created a collaborative border operations training program through DPS.
