Texas will deploy floating buoys in Rio Grande next month to deter unlawful crossings

AUSTIN — Texas next month will begin deploying a 1,000-foot floating barrier in high-traffic areas along the Rio Grande as another means of deterring unlawful border crossings, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday.

The oversized round buoys, which in a photograph and an artist rendering displayed at a news conference in the Capitol resembled giant beach toys, will first be installed in early July near Del Rio. The system will be mobile, meaning it can be relocated to other hotspots, and more of them can be purchased, Abbott said.

"We can put mile after mile after mile of these buoys," Abbott said. "What we're doing right now is we're securing the border at the border. What the buoys will allow us to do is to prevent people from even getting to the border."

Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety and who also spoke during the news conference, said the devices are made of a solid plastic that can be secured to the riverbed and that a netting system can be placed beneath them to discourage anyone from attempting to swim underneath.

The buoys will also rotate when anyone attempts to mount them, which will then prevent migrants from reaching Texas soil, McCraw said.

More:Abbott deploys Tactical Border Force to South Texas as Title 42 nears end

The cost of the first 1,000-foot installment was about $1 million. McCraw, in an interview after the news conference, said that price tag is far less than the cost of the permanent fencing "installed by the previous administration." And it has the added feature of being able to move from one location to the next, as immigration patterns shift.

McCraw described the buoys as "another layer" taken by DPS troopers and National Guard soldiers at the border that includes the installation of razor wire and added patrols.

More:Texas Senate OKs border security bills; rift between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House widens

Abbott announced the initiative at an event called to highlight his signing of six immigration-related bills just passed by the Legislature. The measures, most passed with bipartisan support, will further support the governor's Operation Lone Star, a multibillion-dollar state-paid effort to bridge gaps in federal efforts to deter unlawful immigration.

The newly signed measures are:

Senate Bill 423, which gives the Texas Military Department the authority to use unmanned aircraft, or drones, as part of training exercises and missions.

SB 602, which authorizes federal border officials to enforce state laws, including making legal searches and arresting suspects, as part of their regular duties in Texas. The federal authorities will have to complete a state training program to participate.

SB 1133, which compensates agricultural landowners up to $75,000 for property damage as a result of immigration-related trespassing, human smuggling, drug trafficking and resisting arrest.

SB 1403, which allows Texas to enter agreements, or compacts, with other states without congressional approval to share resources to combat illegal immigration.

SB 1484, which establishes a training program by DPS for local law enforcement agencies who assist with Operation Lone Star.

SB 1900, which increases penalties for crimes associated with designated international terrorist organizations and adds resources to track and disrupt those organizations.

The plan to install the mobile buoys — purchased from Cochrane Global, which bills itself as being among "world leaders in fixed and mobile perimeter barrier solutions" — comes one month after Abbott announced he was ordering an elite unit of the National Guard to the border amid concerns of a surge in illegal crossings with the end of Title 42.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.