Body found stuck in buoys Texas governor ordered placed in the Rio Grande

Authorities found an unidentified body stuck in the buoys that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered installed in the Rio Grande River to impede migrant crossings, according to Mexico’s foreign affairs office.

Texas Department of Public Safety personnel informed the Mexican consulate of the discovery of a corpse on the south side of the buoys at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday, according to an online statement from Mexican officials. The foreign affairs office said it hasn’t confirmed the person’s nationality or cause of death.

In its statement, the Mexican government reiterated its position that Texas’ installation of the buoys is a violation of its national sovereignty. Officials also said they’re concerned about the barrier’s potential risk to the safety and human rights of migrants.

The U.S. Department of Justice last week sued Texas, arguing that the installation of the buoys and their accompanying razor wire violates the law and poses a threat to public safety.

The suit came days after a Hearst Newspapers report based on DPS internal emails that troopers had been ordered to push migrants injured by barbed wire back into the river and refused to give them drinking water.  Abbott’s office has denied that such orders exist.

In a brief statement shared with the Current on Thursday, DPS Director Steve McCraw said “preliminary information suggests this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys.”

Although McCraw said DPS personnel are “posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross,” he offered no information to support his claim that the person died upstream.

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This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 8, 2023.