Texas isn’t waiting around for Washington’s approval to secure the border. Governor Greg Abbott doubled down on the state’s floating border barriers, adding more buoys to the Rio Grande on Wednesday, even after the Biden administration’s failed attempt to sue Texas into submission.
“Despite the Biden-Harris Administration’s attempts to shut down our border security efforts, the buoys are here to stay,” Abbott posted on X (formerly Twitter), alongside a video showing massive, spinning orbs being deployed in the river. “We won’t back down from our mission to deter and repel illegal immigration,” he added.
The Lone Star State isn’t just talking tough—it’s taking action. The additional barricades are being deployed in Eagle Pass, a notorious hub for drug trafficking and human smuggling. Since the installation of a 1,000-foot section of buoys in June 2023, not a single migrant has attempted to cross over them, according to Abbott’s spokesman, Andrew Mahaleris. That’s what success looks like when you prioritize border security instead of appeasing woke activists.
Of course, the Biden administration rushed to sue Texas, claiming the buoys violated the Rivers and Harbor Act. A district court initially sided with the federal government, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, allowing the barriers to stay—for now. The Supreme Court is expected to weigh in, but Abbott isn’t waiting around for the ruling to drop.
“Despite the Biden Administration fighting us every step of the way, courts have ruled that Texas has the right to deploy floating marine barriers,” Mahaleris said. “And Texas is installing even more of these barriers to stop illegal immigration into our state.”
The barriers may only cover a small stretch of the 1,200-mile border, but they’ve been remarkably effective in Eagle Pass. Illegal crossings in the area have plummeted from 38,000 last year to just 8,500 last month. Meanwhile, Biden’s last-minute attempts to restrict asylum loopholes are nothing more than an election-year ploy to salvage his disastrous immigration record.
While Biden and his allies fight tooth and nail to preserve chaos at the border, Abbott and Texas are stepping up to defend the American people. Floating buoys may not solve the entire problem, but they represent something Washington refuses to offer: decisive action.
