Texas’ ‘Floating Border Wall’ Fails to Deter Migrants

livemint.com:

When it installed a chain of giant bright orange buoys on the Rio Grande earlier this summer, Texas hoped that its new “floating border wall" would slow the number of migrants using this shallow point of the river to wade into the U.S. Instead, asylum seekers have simply been skirting the 1,000-foot barrier. This stretch of the river, abutting Eagle Pass, Texas, has for the past few years been one of the most popular crossing spots for migrant families because Piedras Negras, the Mexican city across the border, is relatively safe.

The water is also shallow enough to avoid the river’s most deadly currents. Blocking it off hasn’t deterred migrants, but it has redirected them to more dangerous points on the river. “The proof is right there, the floating barrier is useless," said Norberto Muñoz, an impoverished Mexican pensioner who spends his days on the Mexican banks of the river fishing and collecting the few possessions migrants leave behind before crossing.

The floating barrier, located alongside acres of pecan orchards, has emerged as the most visible and disruptive element of a two-year campaign by Texas to take immigration enforcement—normally the domain of the federal government—into its own hands. The chain of buoys installed in mid-July has sparked diplomatic complaints by Mexico that it violates water and boundary treaties. The Justice Department and Eagle Pass residents have sued Texas saying the state has no jurisdiction over the river.