Texas to install inflatable barrier along Rio Grande to thwart border crossings

Texas will install a floating barrier along the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing the river into the US illegally, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday.

The first 1,000-foot section will be set up on July 7 near Eagle Pass, a city officials say is a key entry way for illegal border crossings, the third-term Republican said.

The contraption — made up of interconnected 4-foot-wide sphere buoys that spin when grabbed — can be moved and extended to cover “hot spots” where asylum seekers are sneaking into the US, according to Abbott.

The marine partition is just one part of Abbott’s latest efforts to prevent more migrants from coming into the country through the Lone Star State.

The governor signed a package of six new border security bills Thursday to “protect Texans from the record level of illegal immigration, weapons, and deadly drugs pouring into Texas from Mexico caused by President Biden’s refusal to secure the border,” his office said in a news release.

Last month, the Texas state legislature allocated $5.1 billion for border security.

The first 1,000-foot stretch of the floating barrier, created by the company Cochrane USA, will cost the state $1 million, according to Texas Department of Public Safety director Steve McCraw.

McCraw said he believes the barrier would stop migrants from even coming into the water when asked whether it would present a hazard to those trying to cross the river, the New York Times reported.

The local sheriff for Maverick County, which includes Eagle Pass, welcomed the idea. He said his deputies recover one or two bodies from the Rio Grande each day because so many migrants drown trying to cross it, according to the newspaper.

“Anything that keeps us from finding a dead body on the side of the river, I’m for,” he said.

Abbott and other Republican governors of border states have repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for not doing more to stop an influx of migrants who cross into the country illegally.

Many of the governors, including Abbott, have also taken to shipping busloads of the migrants to liberal cities that advertise themselves as “sanctuary cities,” like New York City.