They decided to use flat “spin discs” between the buoys to keep migrants from climbing between them. They decided against using buoys or discs with spikes and barbs, although that equipment was available from vendors they researched.
“We needed to make sure [migrants] couldn’t get across or climb on them,” Scott said. “We elected to go with something that was uncomfortable to touch, but did not lead to injuries.”
The Biden administration recently sued Texas over its use of a buoy system near Eagle Pass, saying it raises humanitarian concerns, poses a risk to public safety and is in violation of the federal Rivers and Harbors Act. The government of Mexico said Texas is violating its sovereignty by placing the buoys in a river that borders both countries.
A former Border Patrol official who retired before Scott’s tenure spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity and said the buoy system had been talked about but never considered as seriously as the border wall because of concerns it might violate a treaty with Mexico.
“We weren’t sure we could put something in the water,” the former Border Patrol official said. “We just wanted to acquire land and build a [land] barrier in accordance with the treaty.”
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But by 2020, Scott said, the idea of a floating barrier was particularly appealing in Texas because it helped the Border Patrol address a problem that had hampered efforts to build more wall in the state: Much of the border land is privately owned.
By building a barrier in the river, they could get around that problem. It was also faster to construct than the wall.
“We thought it might be the long-term solution,” said Scott.
In March 2020, as the Covid pandemic changed the world and the ways of doing business, Customs and Border Protection paused the project, Scott said.
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And when restrictions began to lift that would have allowed the construction of buoys to begin, Scott said, Biden had been elected and was promising to cancel wall construction.
So Scott and his staff at the Border Patrol put the idea on hold. But one member of his staff, Mike Banks, joined the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as the state’s new “border czar” in January 2023.
Banks continued Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, pulling the state’s National Guard and state troopers to the border to assist the Border Patrol.
According to Scott and two other former Trump officials, Banks was also able to bring some of the “tactical” ideas of the Trump administration, including border buoys, into Abbott’s office and begin executing them at the state level.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
