Texas Expands Floating Buoy Barrier To Deter Possible Migrant Caravans Ahead Of Trump's Inauguration

Texas placed more buoys in the Rio Grande River on Wednesday, Governor Greg Abbott announced on X. The governor posted a video showing crews installing the floating barriers, saying the state was on a "mission to deter and repel illegal immigration."

"Despite the Biden-Harris Administration's attempts to shut down our border security efforts, the buoys are here to stay," he wrote. The buoy barriers are expected to be placed in heavy crossing areas near Shelby Park and Eagle Pass.

This comes as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) prepares for a possible surge of migrant crossings ahead of Donald Trump's second presidential term. Despite border crossings dropping in the state, Abbott says he plans to respond proactively to intel suggesting thousands of migrants are hoping to get to the United States before Trump's returning border czar starts executing his promised immigration and border security policies.

Abbott's floating barriers, which were placed in the Rio Grande over a year ago, had a controversial start. Human rights advocates argued they put migrants' lives in danger. A few months after their installation, authorities found a dead body stuck between two buoys, and multiple other bodies have been recovered floating around them since then.

Earlier this year, the Biden Administration sued the state of Texas, claiming the barriers violated the federal Rivers and Harbor Act. Initially, a panel of judges for the 5th U.S. Circuit ordered state authorities to move the buoys, but that decision was overturned by the entire appeals court, who decided the barriers could stay.

"The buoys bolster our efforts to deter and repel illegal immigration," the governor wrote on X. According to Newsweek, the floating barriers, which extend more than 1,000 feet, are part of Operation Lonestar and have cost the state nearly $1 million.

On Tuesday, the governor also announced plans to expand razor wire barriers in Eagle Pass, asserting that "Texas will keep our country safe." He went on to attribute the decline in border crossings to his border security measures, though some experts largely credit Mexican enforcement and Biden's border policies for deterring migrants from reaching the border.

While there is no solid evidence yet that a migrant surge is underway, federal authorities are preparing for that possibility. According to the Wall Street Journal, thousands of migrants aspiring to cross the border are being "hurried" by smugglers who are spreading a common message: it's now or never.

Various migrant shelters and caravan organizers are also reporting an increasing number of people opting to cross the border using smuggler services to get to the United States faster.