CAMERON COUNTY, Texas — The Department of Homeland Security is planning to construct 17 miles of water barriers in the Rio Grande.
According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the barriers will be constructed in Cameron County, Texas’ southern-most county in the state.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed a waiver to expedite the construction of the barriers, and it will allow for the department to bypass any conflicting laws.
“The Secretary’s waiver authority allows DHS to waive any legal requirement, including environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, to ensure the expeditious construction of physical barriers and roads,” the release said. “Projects executed under a waiver are critical steps to secure the southern border and reinforce our commitment to border security.”
This isn’t the first water barrier to be constructed in recent years.
Texas installed a series of linked, concrete-anchored buoys in the Rio Grande between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, back in June 2023 as a part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
The state’s buoy barrier was one of several points of contention between then-President Joe Biden’s administration and Texas over immigration and border security.
But the state’s floating barrier only stretched the length of three soccer fields, a much smaller distance compared to the 17 miles DHS plans to install.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
