By: Angelina Wang

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas plans to create a 1,000-foot floating border barrier in the Rio Grande by July 7 to prevent unauthorized migration into the United States.

Last Thursday, Abbott, a third-term Republican, presented a plan to decrease unauthorized border crossing into Texas. He stated that the barrier would be a floating border wall in the Rio Grande made of four-foot-wide buoys. Although the floating barrier would cover only a small part of the almost 1,300-mile Texan border, Abbott claims that this newly formulated plan could be expanded in the near future.

“When we’re dealing with gatherings of 100 or 1,000, one of the goals is to slow down and deter as many of them as possible,” he said before showing photos of what the barrier would look like once installed on July 7. Republican leaders, including Abbott, have criticized President Biden and the federal government for not doing enough to stop unauthorized migration into the United States.

The buoy barrier project will combine with other anti-migration measures in Texas’multibillion-dollar program to slow down and stop these unauthorized crossings, including the deployment of the National Guard and state police. Last month, the Texas Legislature passed a two-year budget that includes roughly five billion dollars in spending on border security. The buoy barrier will cost about one million dollars.

Many citizens who live in South Texas are welcoming this project with open arms. Roberto De Leon, chief deputy sheriff of Maverick County, is relieved.

“Anything that keeps us from finding a dead body on the side of the river, I’m for,” he said. “If this means less people will be crossing illegally…we support it.”

Rolando Salinas Jr., the mayor of Eagle Pass, Texas, states, “People shouldn’t be crossing there [the border] to begin with.”

Others believe the plan to be ineffective, and an effort to gain public favor and promote Abbott’s own personal campaigns.

“He is using this as political theater, to promote his MAGA agenda, and it’s not going to stop people from coming,” said Rodolfo Rosales Jr., a state director with the Texas branch of the League of United Latin American Citizens.