Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced a new tool in trying to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
During a Thursday press conference in which the governor signed new border security legislation, Abbott said a floating barrier will be placed in the middle of the Rio Grande.
"This is a new, water-based barrier of buoys," said Abbott, who then pointed to images of the barrier, "where we could put mile after mile after mile of these buoys."
The buoys appeared strung together, looking like a set of orange pearls. The first use of the buoys will be a 1,000-foot inflatable barrier installed July 7 in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Abbott credited Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steve McCraw and Adjutant General of Texas Major General Thomas Suelzer with leading the effort to employ the floating barrier.
"What these buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from ever getting to the border," said Abbott, who added the buoys' use will be employed "strategically" in areas of need.
Abbott said the money to pay for the buoys will come out of $1 billion approved by the Texas Legislature to secure the border.
The buoys are the latest attempt to secure the southern border in response to the record-breaking number of migrants who have crossed the southern border since President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
Biden has been blasted by Abbott and other Republicans for rolling back Trump-era policies that allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to send back migrants to Mexico.
"Washington, D.C., has failed to do [its] job to secure the border," Abbott said Thursday. "As a result, Texas has had to take unprecedented steps and [respond] to the crisis caused by the [Biden] administration on the border."
McCraw said the floatable buoys are the latest effort to thwart the Mexican cartels' desire to transport immigrants and drugs to the U.S.
"Ninety years ago, Public Enemy No. 1 were the gangsters. Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, the Brady group, Bonnie and Clyde. Today, Public Enemy No. 1 are Mexican cartels — the most powerful, and ruthless, and violent organization[s] in the world right now," McCraw said.
McCraw said that the buoys will be a "protective way" for the state to "prevent people from drowning" and that CBP had already seen and tested the water plan.
"Nobody needs to be coming between the ports of entry. It's dangerous," McCraw said. "The buoy is on the water itself. They can be quickly deployed, and they can be moved."
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