Texas Gov. Abbott says buoy border wall moved back into US territory after study found barrier mostly in Mexican waters 

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that a floating border barrier constructed in the Rio Grande to deter illegal border crossings has been repositioned after surveyors found that it was mostly in Mexican territory. 

The announcement comes after excavators were spotted doing construction work on Friday at the site of the nearly 1,000-foot section of interconnected, bright orange, 4-foot-wide sphere buoys near Eagle Pass, Texas.

The news also comes just days after a survey conducted by International Boundary and Water Commission determined that 79% of the barrier lies on the Mexican side of the river. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, Texas went back and moved the buoys into a location where it is clear that they are on the United States side, not on the Mexico side,” Abbott said during a press conference in Eagle Pass on Monday.

The statement added that Abbott wasn’t sure if the “allegations” made by the International Boundary and Water Commission “were true or not.” 

“If you look at the treaty between the United States and Mexico, that treaty specifically references buoys as a device that can be allowed in these waters between the United States and Mexico,” Abbott noted, claiming that It is “highly recognized that buoys were acceptable and not a deterrent to navigable waters.” 

Surveyors found that “approximately 208 feet of the buoy line (in the upstream portion of the buoy alignment) are located within the United States, whereas approximately 787 feet of the buoy line (in the downstream portion of the buoy alignment) are located within Mexico,” according to a filing last week in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Texas over the barrier.

The DOJ notified the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on Friday of the in-water construction work that was observed being performed on the floating barrier and seethed that the state continues to conduct  “unauthorized construction activities” in the river. 

“This morning, IBWC personnel visited the site and observed excavators and workers in the river and a concrete anchor being repositioned in a different location within the Rio Grande, closer to the U.S. bank,” the filing states. 

“The United States had no advance notice that Defendants would be performing additional work on the Floating Barrier. When questioned by counsel this afternoon, Defendants admitted that Texas is presently repositioning the Floating Barrier within the river. Texas’ newly resumed, unauthorized construction activities in the Rio Grande underscore why this Court should grant the United States’ Opposed Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” the federal government argued. 

The buoys – that spin when grabbed – were installed in the river last month as part of a state border security effort launched by Abbott in 2021, known as Operation Lone Star. 

Abbott contends that the million-dollar floating border wall will “defend” the Lone Star State from “the invasion of the Mexican drug cartels and others who have tried to come into our country illegally.” 

The barrier was installed without permission from the boundary commission and the Justice Department claims it violates federal laws governing navigable waterways and is a humanitarian concern.

The Mexican government has also demanded that the barrier be removed, arguing that it violates international treaties.