By: Ethan Pi

Governor Abbott of Texas, USA, announced his plan last Thursday to create a floating barrier separating Mexico from Texas, which would force migrants to make a sharp turn back.

This announcement from Mr. Abbott was the latest of many efforts by Republican state leaders to focus attention on the many migrants seeking asylum in the US. His plan, specifically, was to install a stretch of buoys on the Rio Grande River so migrants couldn’t get across, the reason being that the Rio Grande is one of the deadliest routes for migrants.

Hundreds upon hundreds of children have died on the journey, and this struck an idea within Republican state leaders. “Anything that keeps us from finding a dead body on the side of river, I’m for,” Governor Abbott said. Still, he and other leaders have criticized our government for not continuing this movement.

“Abbott’s latest stunt will make this situation even more dangerous and deadly,” said Mary Miller Flowers, the director of policy and legislative affairs at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

Essentially, Abbott’s floating barrier will be placed near Eagle Pass next month, sometime during the July Fourth weekend. The stretch of the buoys along the 1000-foot-long barrier will be deposited near Eagle Pass, which is a busy migration area. All in all, it will cost about $1 million, according to Mr. McCraw, the colonel and director of the Public Safety Department of Texas.

People often ask whether it is possible to swim under the buoys, but McCraw says, “You can and you can’t.” He adds, “This was something that Border Patrol had already looked at, designed and even tested.”

The US International Boundary and Water Commission said that the governor’s announcement was a “surprise” to them, and the IBWC is now looking into the Texas proposal and how the two nations may impact agreements between the two Americas.

Even if this proposal will act after Independence Day, many agencies have brought up the fact that Abbott’s plan may lead them downhill. Although it may seem small, this pivotal movement makes Abbott’s announcement something that could potentially change the lives of Mexican immigrants forever. History will tell us whether this 1000-foot-long floating barrier that is said and claimed to be scientifically impenetrable will prove to be our nation’s success or failure.