By: Jessica Wang

This Thursday, Texas will install a barrier on the Rio Grande, creating a border between the United States and Mexico. “We’re securing the border at the border,” Texas Governor Abbott says. “What these buoys will allow us to do is prevent people from getting to the border.”

Illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States has been an issue for decades. While in some categories, like construction and agriculture, migrants can contribute a lot, in other cases, they can cause problems. One particular problem is job competition, where migrants compete with domestic people for employment opportunities. This competition can cause a chain of unemployment.

Because of President Biden’s failure to secure the Texas border, Abbott formed a plan to put an end to illegal immigration by preventing migrants from even coming into the waters of the Rio Grande. In fact, to make it difficult for migrants to climb over or swim underneath the barrier, four to six feet high buoys were placed with webbing underneath them.

Governor Abbott also signed six bills that will protect Texans from illegal immigration and weapons that come from Mexico. These bills will expand the authority of Border Patrol agents and designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

“If this means less people will be crossing illegally through the heart of Eagle Pass, we support it,” Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. states. Eagle Pass recently suffered from a massive wave of over a thousand migrants rushing in. Officials described it as if a hurricane had hit the city on the southern border.

Now that there’s a barrier, many heads have been raised, questioning whether it is safe for the migrants to attempt to cross. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt, in fact we want to prevent people from getting hurt, prevent people from drowning,” Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said. However, Abbott believes that once migrants see the buoys in the water, they will not attempt to cross the river.

Many people also believe the barrier will not be able to address the real and important reasons why people are coming to the United States. Factors like violence and economic decline may force immigrants to come to the United States to seek help and job opportunities. Instead, political leaders should start promoting economic development and putting in fair regulations to help legal immigration become easier.

Sources: