The Latest Breaking News from the Rio Grande

Federal government is challenging Texas's buoys in the Rio Grande – here’s why these kinds of border blockades wind up complicating immigration enforcement

The Rio Grande is only about 328 feet, or about 99 meters, wide. But the waterway dividing Texas from northern Mexico is deceptively dangerous and routinely claims the lives of migrants who try to cross it, but get caught in undetected rip currents or otherwise drown.

The Conversation · Jul 27, 2023

On the Texas-Mexico border, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gives an owl protected status, seeks to declare two mussel species endangered

Wildlife groups have long lobbied for increased protection for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The agency says the mussels species are threatened by reduced flow and poor water quality in the Rio Grande.

The Texas Tribune · Jul 25, 2023

Putting a floating barrier in the Rio Grande to stop migrants is new. The idea isn't.

Texas' floating barrier on the Rio Grande is new, but a former Trump official says the idea isn't

The Independent UK · Jul 25, 2023

Justice Department sues Texas after Gov. Abbott refuses to remove floating barrier

The U.S. Department of Justice had given Texas a deadline of Monday afternoon to agree on removing the stretch of buoys on the Rio Grande or face legal action.

WEKU · Jul 24, 2023

DoJ sues Texas governor over refusal to remove anti-migrant buoys from river

Move is latest in growing political spat between Greg Abbott and Biden administration over immigration

The Guardian - US · Jul 24, 2023

Texas is using disaster declarations to install buoys and razor wire on the US-Mexico border

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has escalated measures to keep migrants from entering the U.S. The Republican is pushing legal boundaries along the border with Mexico to install razor wire, deploy massive buoys on the Rio Grande and bulldoze border islands in the river

The Independent UK · Jul 24, 2023

Biden administration planning to take legal action against Texas over floating Rio Grande border wall plan

Activists, state troopers, and diplomats have all challenged border plan

The Independent UK · Jul 21, 2023

Justice Department tells Texas that floating barrier on Rio Grande raises humanitarian concerns

The Justice Department has told Texas that a floating barrier of wrecking ball-sized buoys the state put on the Rio Grande violates federal law and raises humanitarian concerns for migrants crossing from Mexico

The Independent UK · Jul 21, 2023

Buoys, razor wire, and a Trump-y wall: How Greg Abbott turned the Rio Grande into an immigration ‘war zone’

Texas governor has funnelled $12bn into a military-style border buildup with floating walls and razor wire. Josh Marcus speaks with a local business owner and lifelong riverman who’s suing the state to stop it

The Independent UK · Jul 20, 2023

‘It’s inhumane.’ Mexican president blasts treatment of migrants by Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blasted the treatment of migrants following reporting earlier this week that officials received orders to push those crossing at the Texas border back into the Rio Grande and also were told not to give them water.

Tribune News Service · Jul 19, 2023