Border Patrol Union, Abbott’s Office Push Back on Rep. Joaquin Castro’s ‘Unhinged Diatribe’ Over Water Buoys

Illegal immigrants walk in the Rio Grande river between a floating fence and the river bank as they look for an opening on the concertina wire fence to land on U.S. soil in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 24, 2023. (Go Nakamura/Reuters)

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has accused Gov. Greg Abbott of imposing “barbaric” efforts to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the southern border near Eagle Pass, Texas.

“Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today. Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of the buoys. Land seized from citizens. Operation Lone State is barbaric — and [Gov. Greg Abbott] is making border communities collateral damage,” Mr. Castro wrote on Wednesday on social media, along with a video shot from the banks of the Rio Grande River near the Texas-Mexico border.

The Border Patrol Union (BPU) quickly pushed back against the Democrat Congressman’s accusations and called on him to issue an apology for posting what they described as an “unhinged diatribe.”

“Joaquin needs to settle down, gather himself, learn some facts, and then apologize for his dangerous, unhinged diatribe,” the BPU responded Thursday on social media.

In July, the state of Texas installed a 1,000-foot chain of buoys down the middle of the Rio Grande as part of Operation Lone Star, an effort led by Mr. Abbott to deter illegal border crossings. The water barrier is positioned at one of the illegal crossing hot spots. Razor wire also runs along the edge of the river on the Texas side of the border.

Mr. Castro’s criticism comes about a week after two bodies, including a child, were recovered from the Rio Grande. One of the bodies was reportedly found trapped in a buoy on the southern end of the floating barrier.

“There’s been a lot of controversy about these barrel traps that are being placed by Gov. Abbott in the Rio Grande,” Mr. Castro said in the video.

“The state says they’re not a danger to anybody, but I want you to see this chainsaw-type device they hid right in the middle of these buoys,” he continued as he tapped on the end of a buoy that was sitting on a metal rack near. “And then if you come right over here, you can see in the distance the razor wire, all the razor wire against the river.”

The Mexican government has also taken issue with Texas’s attempts to protect its border, offering a similar judgment against the water barrier following the recent drownings.

“We reiterate the position of the Government of Mexico that the placement of barbed wire buoys by the Texas authorities is a violation of our sovereignty. We express our concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants that these policies will have, which run counter to the close collaboration between our country and the federal government of the United States,” the Mexico Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement earlier this month.

Mr. Abbott’s office said the allegations made by the Mexican government and Democrats are unequivocally false.

“President Lopez and Democrats spreading false information that Texas’ marine barriers caused any deaths are flat-out wrong,” Mr. Abbott’s Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

“Where was this outrage from Democrats when President Biden’s reckless open border policies encouraged migrants to make the dangerous and illegal trek across the border, ultimately taking the lives of over 850 migrants last year?”

Mr. Mahaleris noted the purpose of the barriers is to redirect migrants to use one of the 29 international bridges on the Texas-Mexico border where they can enter the U.S. legally and safely.

“No one drowns on a bridge,” he said.

Rio Grande Drownings

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) notified the Mexican government after it was alerted about a possible drowning on Aug. 2.

“Preliminary information suggests that this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys,” Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw told NTD News in a statement. “There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross.

In his video, Mr. Castro also alleges that people are getting stuck to the razor wire on the river’s edge and that authorities refuse to help.

“The state troopers, even if, when they see families with a baby, with a four-year-old, six-year-old, they won’t help the family if they’re stuck in that wire,” he said. “It’s gotten very dangerous, not just for the migrants. The state troopers have not cut off CBP from doing its job.”

In its response, the Border Patrol Union pointed Mr. Castro to a list of “facts” about the border crisis.

There have been “341 migrant drawings in the Rio Grande since Biden took office.” The two drownings earlier this month are a reduction from the previous average of “2.6 drownings a week,” and there were “only 201 drowning deaths” during the four years of the Trump Administration, according to BPU.

Four people, including an infant, drowned in the Rio Grande over the Fourth of July weekend while trying to illegally cross into the U.S. The marine barrier had not yet been installed at the time of those deaths.

DOJ Sues the Lone Star State Over Barrier

On July 24, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas for installing the water buoys.

The lawsuit alleges the barrier was placed illegally and without federal oversight. The DOJ also argued the state bypassed the Rivers and Harbors Act by failing to first consult with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (pdf).

The complaint is seeking an injunction to block the state from placing additional marine barriers and asks the court to order the removal of the existing buoys at the state’s expense.

The Biden Administration on Aug. 1 also announced it is pulling back 1,100 active duty troops from the border that it deployed earlier this year in preparation for the end of Title 42.

But Operation Lone Star has no plans of slowing down its efforts to secure the border.

“Texas is utilizing every tool and strategy to secure the border in the Biden Administration’s absence, allocating more than $9 billion of Texas taxpayer money for border security, busing migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities, installing strategic barriers, and building our own wall,” Mr. Mahaleris said.

“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to respond to this ongoing crisis and protect Texans.”