Mexico files complaint over border boundaries and Abbott’s buoy barrier wall

Mexico isn’t happy about Governor Abbott’s move to put up a buoy barrier across the Rio Grande River. Governor Abbott doesn’t care. It’s up and it’s staying there, at least until the Supreme Court tells him to take it down.

That will probably happen, too, but until then, Governor Abbott said he will take the case all the way up to the Supreme Court because states have a right to protect their borders. In the case of Texas, the border with Mexico includes the Rio Grande River. There are limited ways in which to stop the constant flow of migrants crossing the river in order to come into Texas illegally, avoiding a legal port of entry.

Governor Abbott has to think outside the box. The Biden administration offers precious little in help securing the southern border with federal assistance, though immigration and border security are the responsibility of the federal government. Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in 2021 as the flood of migrants overwhelmed the Texas-Mexico border. He has sent DPS and National Guard troops to the border. He has authorized various law enforcement agencies to make arrests and now single migrants are being charged with criminal trespassing and jailed for illegal entry into Texas. What more can one governor do? Illegal immigration is costing Texas taxpayers billions of dollars. Texas taxpayers are funding those migrant buses to sanctuary cities and the additional border wall that the governor has built.

Abbott put up the buoy barrier to stop those migrants from around the world from wading and swimming across the river. They turn themselves into Border Patrol agents and wait to be taken for processing. Some don’t wait to be apprehended and run. Those are the ‘gotaways.’ They likely have criminal records that will show up when they are processed and they would face expulsion. It’s the same story that has been true since Joe Biden was sworn in as president. He signed executive orders and memos to put a halt to deportations, and other law enforcement measures. The porous southern border is intentional. This was Biden’s plan all along.

The buoy barrier is meant to stop the likelihood of migrant deaths. Those who cannot swim or those will very young children and babies are very vulnerable. The Rio Grande River may not look dangerous but it has strong currents. Bodies are found of adults and of children along the river. The Biden border crisis is a humanitarian crisis, as well as a national security crisis.

Mexico wants to shut down the buoy barrier, citing possible violations of the 1944 and 1970 treaties on boundaries and water.

Foreign Relations Secretary Alicia Bárcena said Mexico will send an inspection team to the Rio Grande to see whether any of the barrier extends into Mexico’s side of the border river.

She also complained about U.S. efforts to put up barbed wire on a low-lying island in the river near Eagle Pass, Texas.

Bárcena said that if the buoys impede the flow of water, it would violate the treaties, which requires the river remain unobstructed. Mexico has already asked that the barriers be removed.

Notice how the razor wire fencing is brought into her complaint. She and other Mexican officials don’t want any obstructions to the migrants entering the United States. It’s that many less that Mexico has to take care of. It is to Mexico’s advantage to keep the migrants moving on to the United States.

When the installation of the buoy barrier is completed, the buoys and the webbing that is connected to them will cover 1,000 feet of the middle of the Rio Grande River. Anchors will keep it in place in the riverbed. There is no way to swim under them or through the line of buoys.

Barcena is Mexico’s incoming secretary of foreign affairs.

Bárcena told reporters that the Mexican government sent a diplomatic letter to the U.S. on June 26 stating the barriers are in violation of a 1944 water treaty, Reuters reported. The Associated Press reported Friday that Bárcena plans to send an inspection team to the Rio Grande to see if the barrier extends into Mexico’s side of the border and if it impedes the flow of water, which would violate the treaty.

Governor Abbott’s office has not responded to press inquiries.

Abbott’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Texas Tribune seeking comment on the diplomatic complaint. But in previous statements he has touted the buoys as an effective way of preventing illegal border crossings.

“We’re securing the border at the border,” he said in June when he announced the approach. “What these buoys will allow us to do is prevent people from getting to the border.”

A Texas small business owner has filed a lawsuit over the buoy barrier, too. He claims his Kayak rental business is affected by the buoys in the river. Doesn’t the line of migrants crossing the river also affect his kayak business? Is that something that tourists want to see as part of the scenery?