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Hurlingen, Texas (Border Report) – The Department of Homeland Security has 17 miles of river water in Rio Grande, Cameron County, deep in Texas, the border report learned.
There are probably more military border zones in South Texas, says Kuerer
Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem has signed an exemption to promote construction, the agency said in a press release Thursday. This is the sixth exemption signed by NOEM for the border barrier construction project along the southwest border.
The river structure will be built south of Brownsville, a bustling border town across from Matamoros in Mexico, according to a memo obtained by the border report.
The distance from Brownsville to America’s Gulf is roughly that distance. The Gulf Coast meets a river near SpaceX’s launch facility.
The 17-mile, large new river structure will be much longer than the 1,000-foot-long river buoy structure that Texas built as part of Operation Lone Star on Eagle Pass.
Immigrants walked by a series of buoys placed in the water along the Rio Grande border in Eagle Pass, Texas on July 15, 2023 to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US (photo by Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)
The controversial Texas buoy structure, built in July 2023, cost the state $1 million.
Based on these costs, this new structure (which we expect to include reverbuys) could cost $90 million.
Under the Biden administration, the US Department of Justice sued Texas to remove the buoys, claiming it was a 1899 breach of the river and port, a safety hazard. They also argue that the barriers were set up without proper permission from the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC).
The structure was often seen in border reports, moving closer to the US side of the river after complaints, surrounded by shallow mud.
It has also been criticized for the giant metal spikes between the giant orange buoys. And environmentalists say it is changing the natural flow of water and causing destruction of international waterways.
Immigrants pass the site that is assembled a large buoy to be used as a boundary barrier along the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 11, 2023. (AP file photo/Eric Gay)
In a press release, DHS said the structure is necessary for customs and border guards and border guard agents.
“In an ongoing effort to maintain and maintain operational control of the tropical border, CBP continues to look for innovative ways to achieve this mission. A gap in capacity has been identified in waterways along the southwest border where drug smuggling, human trafficking, other human trafficking and other illegal activities occur. Additionally, the waterborne barrier aims to create a safer border environment for patrol agents and to prevent illegal aliens from illegally attempting to cross dangerous waterways,” the press release states.
DHS plans to fund the RGV Waterborne Barrier Project using the remaining Border Protection Fund from fiscal year 2021.
The announcement by the DHS appeared on the federal register on Thursday, indicating that the start will be in Brownsville, but nothing more.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, of D-Texas, lives on the Homeland Security Budget subcommittee and says he has the money that Congress has budgeted for the 2021 border wall.
Now, President Donald Trump appears to be planning to spend the money, and there is no need to wait for approval in 2026.
“When I talk about fence construction, this water structure can be expensive,” Cuellar told the border report.
Cuellar said DHS had defended the water buoy structure several years ago during the first Trump administration, which planned to set up a boundary wall in his hometown of Laredo.
When asked about this new structure, he said: I have it. “
Noem has signed an environmental exemption to promote construction, and according to the memo, she bids on the structure’s contract and hopes to begin by the end of September by the end of fiscal year 2025.
“It’s about a minute,” Kuerer said.
Border Report Live: Military extends its existence along borders
Last week, the US Air Force announced that 250 miles of the Rio Grande and Federal land previously managed by the IBWC in Cameron and Hidalgo counties had been transferred to the Department of Defense, and is now an expanded military zone under a joint base in San Antonio.
Sandra Sanchez can visit ssanchez@borderreport.com
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