Trump administration begins deploying border buoys as part of 500-mile expansion in Texas [View all]

Source: Austin American-Statesman

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said during a trip to Brownsville on Wednesday that the Trump administration is working to deploy more than 500 miles of buoys in the Rio Grande — massively expanding the floating barrier first installed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2023.

Noem said that more than 130 miles of those barriers are under contract and officials were beginning to deploy the buoys on Wednesday. She did not say how many miles were currently in the water or where they were. She also did not say when the administration expects to have all 500 miles deployed. The Rio Grande stretches about 1,200 miles along Texas' border with Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Noem said the deployment was necessary, even as border crossings have essentially ground to a halt, and said they "are going to last for many, many years to come."

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/politics/texas/article/trump-border-buoy-barrier-expansion-21281784.php