Federal agency warned Texas for months that its border wire, buoys are illegal

Texas officials for seven months ignored warnings that putting anti-migrant buoys in the Rio Grande and razor wire along the river’s banks would violate both federal law and U.S. treaties with Mexico, according to documents uncovered by the Dallas Morning News.

Those warnings began in December — well before Gov. Greg Abbott publicly announced that he’d ordered the barrier’s installation as part of Operation Lone Star, his $4.4 billion immigration crackdown — according to the paper’s investigation. Since then, officials at “numerous state agencies” received notice that they needed federal permission before installing the barriers, the article notes.

The controversial buoys, installed in June, have resulted in a Justice Department lawsuit ordering their removal and a formal diplomatic complaint from Mexican officials. Last week, they drew further condemnation from human-rights groups after the dead bodies of two male migrants were recovered in the river nearby. One of the bodies was stuck on the barrier itself.

According to the Morning News‘ report, a Texas Highway Patrol captain on March 29, requested that the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which oversees the Rio Grande, assist with an electricity permit for an Operation Lone Star command trailer. The commission rejected the request, explaining that the trailer, placed in the river’s floodplain, was on federal land without approval.

“The State of Texas, operating through various entities, including but not limited to, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) (and its contractors) does not have authorization for its presence on the federal property that is managed, owned, and/or controlled by the United States, International Boundary and Water Commission,” the IBWC responded in an April 21 document obtained by the Morning News.

The IBWC is a federal agency charged with applying the boundary and water treaties of the United States and Mexico. It also settles differences that may arise in their application.

The IBWC “repeatedly made clear to Texas officials our concerns about their activities on territory under [its] jurisdiction,” spokesman Frank Fisher told the Morning News. He added that the agency turned to the Justice Department after Texas officials repeatedly ignored its requests.

In a Tuesday morning tweet, Abbott reshared the Morning News article and added that the piece “ignores the fact that the bouys [sic] used by Texas did not cause the drowning of the 2 bodies.”

With out further elaboration, he also added, “What this story doesn’t tell you is that I informed Biden almost a year ago about Texas’s constitutional authority to secure the border.”

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