Congressman Joaquin Castro speaks to reporters at the International Center for Trade in Eagle Pass following a tour of the razor buoys deployed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Credit: Michael Karlis

EAGLE PASS — After a fact-finding visit to Gov. Greg Abbott’s buoys blocking the Rio Grande, a congressional delegation led by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro blasted the anti-immigrant barrier as an absurd and dangerous political stunt.

At a meeting with reporters, Castro — a San Antonio Democrat — called on the Biden White House to “end all cooperation between Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Department of Public Safety” until a suit by the Justice Department demanding Abbott take down the barrier plays out in court.

Abbott, a Republican, installed the buoys in June as part of Operation Lone Star, a $4.4 billion anti-immigrant crackdown that’s he’s made a key part of his political brand. Last week, two migrant men were found dead near the buoys, one of corpses actually stuck to the barrier.

“This operation isn’t about border security,” Castro told the 50 reporters at gathered at Eagle Pass’ International Center for Trade. “It’s a political stunt designed to distract from the Abbott administration’s failure to make progress on other issues that Texans care about, like health care, education and economic development.”

Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat running to unseat U.S. Sen. Senator Cruz, R-Texas, invoked Abbott’s past anti-immigrant stunts, including his inspection of all cargo trucks coming from Mexico last spring and his bussing of migrants to Democrat-led cities. Critics charge that the inspections duplicated federal efforts and cost the economy millions while turning up no drugs.

“[Abbott] brought his buoys down, he brought more razor wire down, and he put it down here because he wants America to see a country and a border in chaos,” Gutierrez said. “This border is not in chaos. These communities live and drive and work every day, but now, unfortunately, they have Greg Abbott’s helicopters circling around.”

Up close, it’s apparent that Abbott’s barriers only provide an obstruction along a tiny portion of the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. The wire only spans about a few miles in either direction from the two international bridges connecting Eagle Pass to Piedras Negras, Mexico.

During a visit to the Rio Grande bank west of Elm Creek, where the razor wire ends, items of clothing discarded by migrants are strewn in the grass, indicating some border crossers are simply finding spots further down the river.

Clothing left behind by migrants lies in the grass west of Elm Creek. Credit: Michael Karlis

Although Castro and Gutierrez accused Abbott of grandstanding, none of the members of delegation, including U.S. Reps. Tony Cardenas, D-California; Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; and Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Houston, disputed the human cost of Operation Lone Star.

During the press conference, several border residents spoke out against the governor’s pricy initiative, arguing that it had disrupted their businesses and endangered border crossers simply looking for better lives.

“There is no militia, there are no armed people coming over; it’s just families,” said Jesse Fuentes, who added that his canoe and kayak business had been harmed by Abbott’s buoys. “Innocent people that need help and can’t get to our soil in Texas because they’re pushed back, or there’s tons of concertina wire — and it’s ugly, and I hope, and I pray that there is some resolution to this.”

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