Texas' buoy barrier to deter illegal crossings can remain in Rio Grande, court rules



On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas may keep its water barrier in the Rio Grande.

Last summer, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced his administration's plan to install a 1,000-foot floating fence in the river in response to the Biden administration's refusal to secure the southern border. The barrier consists of interconnected inflatable sphere buoys, four feet wide, that spin when grabbed to prevent individuals from climbing over.

'Biden tried to remove them. I fought to keep them in the water.'

Abbott said that the water barrier would be placed near Eagle Pass, a highly trafficked area of the border. The governor also placed concertina wire along the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass to further deter unlawful crossings.

The Biden administration entered into a legal battle with the state over its attempts to stem the illegal immigration crisis, filing lawsuits against Texas' installation of the concertina wire and the buoy wall. Biden's Department of Justice claimed that Texas violated federal law by not obtaining authorization to install the barrier. It further alleged that the buoys present environmental and safety concerns.

On Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the marine barrier may stay for now, reversing a lower court's injunction that ordered its removal. The broader case will return to a district court in Austin next week.

Following the court's latest ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced, "The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Texas's favor, finding that the federal district court abused its discretion when it ordered Texas to remove the buoys floating in the Rio Grande that prevent aliens from attempting a dangerous river crossing to enter America illegally. The buoys can remain in the river. I will continue to defend Texas's right to protect its border from illegal immigration!"

Abbott called the court's Tuesday decision "justice."

"Biden tried to remove them. I fought to keep them in the water. That is exactly where they will stay," Abbott said.

Abbott's interventions to curb the border crisis were deployed as part of the governor's Operation Lone Star, a joint effort between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard. According to the governor, the effort has resulted in more than 516,600 illegal alien apprehensions and over 45,500 criminal arrests.

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‘Alligators are in the Rio Grande’: Texas Gov. Abbott warns would-be illegal aliens about risks of crossing border river



Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott recently warned would-be illegal aliens who are considering crossing the Rio Grande to enter the United States unlawfully that the water is infested with alligators.

Abbott re-shared a video post on X that showed an alligator in the river near Eagle Pass, Texas. According to the post, the footage was captured by a local resident who came across the reptile while fishing one morning.

Independent journalist Auden B. Cabello noted that Border Patrol agents have also previously confirmed alligator sightings in the river.

Abbott wrote on Sunday in response to the video, “Alligators are in the Rio Grande. FYI there are warning signs posted in some sectors. Cross at your own risk.”

Alligators are in the Rio Grande.\n\nFYI there are warning signs posted in some sectors.\n\nCross at your own risk.
— (@)

Last year, the governor shared a similar video of the creature lurking alongside a Texas National Guard boat before disappearing under the water.

“The Texas National Guard took this picture in the Rio Grande river near Eagle Pass,” Abbott said.

The Texas National Guard took this picture in the Rio Grande river near Eagle Pass.
— (@)

Abbott’s office issued a press release last week stating that its multi-agency Operation Lone Star effort is still working together to “fill the dangerous gaps” in the border wall, including installing concertina wire in El Paso.

Spc. Newman Gideon with the Texas National Guard stated, “My responsibility on the border is to provide security for the teams going in and clearing out brush to make way for more concertina wire.”

“If there’s a hole that’s already been cut, we are going to take pliers and wire cutters to repair and close that gap [illegal immigrants] created. It’s important that [the Texas National Guard] is here to stop migrants crossing into the United States,” he added.

Abbott recently shared a video showing the continued construction of the border wall in Zapata County.

“Texas won’t back down,” Abbott wrote on X. “We are using every tool available to secure the border in Biden’s absence.”

Construction continues on the Texas border wall in Zapata County.\n\nTexas won\u2019t back down.\n\nWe are using every tool available to secure the border in Biden\u2019s absence.
— (@)

The state is also working to build the Forward Operating Base near Eagle Pass to provide housing to the thousands of Texas National Guard troops assisting with the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

So far, the governor’s Operation Lone Star has led to the apprehension of nearly 510,000 illegal migrants and the arrests of another roughly 42,100 criminals. Additionally, the operation has seized more than 476 million lethal doses of fentanyl.

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Hundreds of migrants hitch train ride to El Paso border — Texas prepares for another potential riot



Hundreds of migrants have hitched a ride on a train bound for the El Paso-Juarez border, with the first group arriving earlier this week, according to Border Report.

The train, referred to as "La Bestia," or "the Beast," is carrying an unknown number of foreign nationals hoping to seek asylum in the United States. It is also referred to as the "Death Train," because migrants risk their lives riding on top of and clinging to the side of the cargo cars.

The New York Post noted that the Mexican government has recently stopped cracking down on the train rides.

Some of the migrants who just arrived in Juarez plan to head to the port of entry in El Paso and make asylum claims, while others intend to enter the country illegally by crossing the Rio Grande River. Individuals wishing to claim asylum are supposed to schedule an appointment with the Department of Homeland Security through the CBP One app and then check in at a port of entry. However, many have chosen to avoid designated entry points and cross over illegally.

An 18-year-old Venezuelan national told Border Report, "I am traveling by myself and they're waiting for me in Florida."

"I left (Venezuela) on February 5 and I stayed in Mexico some time and the (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) appointment never came. […] I will go to the river and see what happens," he stated.

CBP agent Orlando Marrero-Rubio told Border Report, "Anybody that comes into our country between ports of entry, they're doing it in an illegal way, regardless of your immigration status. Even for United States citizens it's completely illegal to make an entry between ports of entry."

Reports of the large group of migrants riding on the train began surfacing on Tuesday, a law enforcement official told the news outlet.

In response to the incoming migrants, the Texas National Guard was issued nonlethal pepper ball ammunition, a National Guard source told the Post. In March and April, large groups of illegal migrants stormed the border, destroying barriers and pushing past law enforcement authorities. The illegal aliens outnumbered the National Guardsmen.

The Post reported that one migrant attempted to grab a guardsman's firearm during the March incident. Authorities confiscated knives and shanks from some of the individuals involved in the rush.

“These people were willing to assault military,” a source told the Post. “They were willing to assault law enforcement. They have complete disregard for our laws.”

Since then, additional troops have been deployed, and fencing has been reinforced.

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Video: Hundreds of migrants cross into Eagle Pass, Texas, as Democrats are still complaining about 50 illegal immigrants in Martha's Vineyard



While Democrats continue to make hysteric complaints about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) sending 50 or so illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, new footage shows many more migrants crossing into the United States in towns near the southwest border.

Fox News reporter Bill Melugin is in Eagle Pass, Texas, where he reports "large groups of several hundred migrants" are crossing illegally into the country at numerous locations Friday morning.

\u201cNEW: Good morning from Eagle Pass, TX, where we have groups of several hundred migrants crossing illegally in multiple locations right now, including part of this group which started walking along a local highway. We have seen large groups in 3 locations so far today. @FoxNews\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1663335006

Melugin shared nighttime drone footage taken early this morning that used thermal imaging to film a group of more than 100 illegal immigrants crossing the border illegally into Eagle Pass.

\u201cNEW: For the very first time this AM while it was still dark, we used our brand new night time drone w/ thermal imaging as a large group of migrants crossed illegally into Eagle Pass. As you\u2019ll see, the group was 100+ in size. Grateful to @FoxNews for getting us this new tool!\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1663338454

The video shows migrants crossing the Rio Grande river from the Mexican side to enter the United States. A large group can be seen walking in single-file formation.

\u201cMore video from our brand new @FoxNews night flying drone with thermal imaging from early this morning. Within just 2 hours in Eagle Pass, TX this AM, we saw 3 large groups totaling 500+ crossing illegally in three spots.\n450,000+ illegal crossings in this sector so far this year\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1663341333

Immigration authorities are now reporting the highest-ever daily number of migrants entering the U.S. illegally, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Internal communications from the Department of Homeland Security reportedly show Border Patrol officers are documenting about 8,000 migrant encounters per day.

A CBP spokeswoman told the Free Beacon that "the traffic we are seeing this year is similar to the pattern we saw at this time last year." Last September, CBP reported an average of about 7,700 migrant encounters per day nationwide.

Immigration authorities have reported nearly 2 million total border encounters since the beginning of this fiscal year.

In an interview last weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris insisted that the U.S. border is secure while stating that the U.S. immigration system is broken. Her comments led to backlash from Republicans, who accused the Biden administration of incentivizing illegal immigration with lax border policies and of failing to provide adequate resources for overwhelmed border towns.

GOP governors in Arizona, Florida, and Texas have sought to call attention to the chaos in their states by giving illegal immigrants voluntary transport to sanctuary cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for sending two planes full of illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, a popular getaway destination for rich, white liberals.

The left had an apoplectic reaction to what DeSantis did. Democratic local officials said the presence of 50 illegal immigrants on the island was a "humanitarian crisis" and slammed DeSantis for not warning they were coming. The White House accused GOP officials of using migrants as "political pawns" and said it was "cruel" to give them a free plane ticket to Martha's Vineyard. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) accused DeSantis of "kidnapping" these migrants by misleading them with "false representations that they would be transported to Boston and would receive expedited access to work authorization."

But none of the migrants were taken to Martha's Vineyard against their will. And the Biden administration has also flown migrants across the U.S. as they await asylum proceedings because immigration facilities at the southwest border have been overwhelmed by the volume of people entering the country illegally.

The real humanitarian crisis remains at the southwest border, where local morgues are reportedly running out of space as they struggle to keep up with the number of people who drown crossing the Rio Grande river. As the Fox News video shows, the migrant crossings are not stopping, which means more buses and planes are sure to carry illegal immigrants to sanctuary city jurisdictions.

Ted Cruz reports from the border: Cartels are 'taunting' American Border Patrol



Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday night shared video from the southern border that appears to show individuals with flashlights on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river yelling at the Americans on the other side. Cruz said these were drug cartel members and human smugglers taunting Border Patrol agents.

Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) led a Senate delegation to the U.S.-Mexico border this week to observe how federal law enforcement is handling the recent migrant surge. In a tweet, Cruz said, "We encountered human traffickers & cartel members tonight, yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cross."

We encountered human traffickers & cartel members tonight, yelling at us across the Rio Grande and preparing to cro… https://t.co/qXKNpN5YT2
— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1616739704.0

"So it's past midnight, I'm standing on the shore of the Rio Grande — the water is right behind me. I'm down at the Texas border along with 18 senators. We made the trip to see the crisis that is playing out," Cruz said in a second video.

Cruz described visiting "overrun" detention facilities operated by CBP used to hold migrants who were apprehended attempting to cross into the United States illegally. Cruz said he saw families, including mothers nursing infants, "housed in outdoor holding pens where they were sleeping on the floor."

Customs and Border Protection reported encountering over 100,000 migrants at the southern border in February, the highest number for the month of February since 2006. There are more than 15,000 unaccompanied minor children in the custody of the federal government

Live footage from the banks of the Rio Grande.#BidenBorderCrisis https://t.co/aO4EyANrRQ
— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1616739302.0
The Biden Admin immediately halted building the wall, leaving major gaps through which hundreds of thousands of ill… https://t.co/i8OsBHGm9h
— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1616739980.0

Pointing across the Rio Grande river, Cruz said his delegation saw drug cartel members and human traffickers waving flashlights, "yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the Border Patrol."

He blamed the Biden administration's policies for encouraging illegal immigration and strengthening the cartels.

"They know that under the current policy of the Biden administration they can flood over here — they're getting paid $4,000-$5,000 a person to smuggle them into this country," Cruz said. "And our policies, when they smuggle them in, the Biden administration releases them."

"This is a humanitarian crisis, it's a public health crisis," Cruz continued, noting that many of the illegal immigrants being released by the Biden administration are testing positive for COVID-19 "at a seven times higher rate than the American population."

"It's a national security crisis. And it's time for the Biden administration to put an end to it and stop sanctioning lawless chaos on our southern border."