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The move by Gov. Greg Abbott, flouting a federal challenge, signaled that Texas expects to have a freer hand on the border under President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Nov. 20, 2024Updated 12:23 p.m. ET
Texas has begun placing more buoys in the Rio Grande to impede unauthorized migrant crossings, despite a lawsuit by the Biden administration challenging the state’s power to do so, the office of Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday.
Workers were extending what had been a 1,000-foot barrier of connected orange buoys in the river between Mexico and the city of Eagle Pass, Texas, which was a hot spot for illegal crossings last year.
The move on Wednesday was a direct challenge to the Biden administration, and signaled that the state of Texas expected to soon have a freer hand to conduct its own enforcement along the international border under the administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. The incoming administration could also choose to drop the federal challenge to Texas’s actions.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Mr. Abbott previewed the new effort during an interview with the Fox News host Sean Hannity Tuesday night.
“We’re not letting up at all,” Mr. Abbott said. “Tomorrow morning we’re going to be putting more buoys into the Rio Grande River, doing more to deny illegal entry into the state of Texas.”
It was not immediately clear how much length the new buoys will add to the existing barrier. But even with the addition, the barrier would affect only a very small fraction of the frontier between Texas and Mexico, which extends for 1,254 miles.
