A federal judge will decide whether large water buoys placed by Texas as floating barriers to prevent migrants from crossing the Rio Grande can stay, following a federal lawsuit against the state.
The Biden administration sued the state July 24 for placing 4-foot-wide orange buoys in the middle of the river between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico. The government says they violate federal law.
The buoys are connected to form a barricade about 1,000 feet long. They are fastened to the river bottom and have nets below the water to prevent people from swimming beneath them. The buoys themselves rotate so that people can’t climb over them.
The legal dispute includes accusations of Texas attempting to usurp federal control of national borders. Critics also say the buoys will make dangerous river crossings even more unsafe.
The devices are installed in what are called high-traffic areas, sections where people are likely to attempt to cross the river. Here is where they’re located and what they do:
The buoys are part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a controversial border protection program that started in March 2021.
The state has also put up miles of razor wire – braided steel wire with sharp metal pieces attached – along the Texas banks of the Rio Grande. That has resulted in adults and children being severely cut during river crossings.
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Texas has also placed shipping containers along the river at Eagle Pass and El Paso. Abbott described the containers as a steel wall along the southern border.
How much will the buoy barrier on the Rio Grande cost?
Total costs for Operation Lone Star are estimated at about $4 billion. The price for the first segment of the buoy barrier at Eagle Pass is expected to cost $1 million, USA TODAY reported.
The federal lawsuit against Texas says the state violated the Rivers and Harbors Act by obstructing the river with the buoys. It says Texas was not authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install the buoys, as required by law.
“This floating barrier poses threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
CONTRIBUTING Adam Powell, El Paso Times
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Associated Press
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