'It’s about money and votes, nothing else,' one Texas resident complained
Published 08/12/23
Zachary Rogers
Efforts in Texas to stop migrants from crossing its borders are destroying the natural environment there, local residents and experts report.
The state’s governor, Greg Abbot, has deployed razor wires, giant orange buoys and fences along the Rio Grande River.
Those changes, along with increased patrols on ATVs that stir up dust and rip up soil, are wreaking havoc on the equilibrium of the ecosystem, the Guardian reports.
Scientists have already been sounding the alarm about the effects of border security efforts on the local environments that see them.
Efforts in Texas to stop migrants from crossing its borders are destroying the natural environment there, local residents and experts report.
The state’s governor, Greg Abbot, has deployed razor wires, giant orange buoys and fences along the Rio Grande River.
Those changes, along with increased patrols on ATVs that stir up dust and rip up soil, are wreaking havoc on the equilibrium of the ecosystem, the Guardian reports.
Scientists have already been sounding the alarm about the effects of border security efforts on the local environments that see them.
Walls made of shipping containers and stadium lighting reportedly disrupt flora and block animals from roaming their natural territory.
The Department of Justice has already sued Texas over the installed buoys because of improperly filed federal approvals and their impact on public safety and the environment.
Mexico’s government argued that buoys put lives at risk and also violate a water treaty.
Magali and Hugo Urbina argued that their 350-acre orchard, located next to the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, has barren fields this year instead of the expected flourishing fields of pecans. They blame increased patrol traffic on their property, complaining that their fields are “choking” as a result, the Guardian reports.
“It’s about money and votes, nothing else,” Hugo Urbina reportedly said. “We’re just collateral damage and they don’t care.”
The Urbinas say they voted for Abbott, but now argue that the state's destructive impact on the environment as they target migrants is destroying their property and their livelihood.
Texas troopers look over the Rio Grande as migrants walk past buoys in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 15, 2023, meant to deter them. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) says it still advocates on migrants' behalf but also speaks out on bread-and-butter issues affecting all Americans.
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images
The installation by Texas of the fences and river buoys to block migrants has already altered the Rio Grande’s path near Eagle’s Pass, environmentalists say.
Those alterations threaten to damage habitats for endangered species, including the Texas hornshell mussel and the Monarch butterfly.
“The borderlands are already suffering death by a thousand cuts,” Laiken Jordahl, an advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Guardian.
Last month a small business owner in Texas who runs a kayak and canoe company along the banks of the Rio Grande sued Abbott over his assault on the ecosystem of the border.
“I’m supposed to promote the beauty of the river,” Jesse Fuentes told The Messenger.
"Does that look beautiful to you over there?" he asked, motioning toward the river: "Layer upon layer of concertina, shipping cart containers that are 14 feet high, steel fences and then another fence over there, buoys in the water, all kinds of obstacles that shouldn’t be there."
He also complained that an island in the river had been bulldozed into nonexistence by the Abbott administration.
“Our river is crying. It is stressed. It’s been beaten. It’s been terrorized,” he said. “All that ecosystem, all that flora, all that fauna, it’s gone.”
The Urbinas, meanwhile, expect to lose close to $760,000 this year alone as their orchard continues to deteriorate.
“Maybe we were put here so everybody could see exactly what is happening,” Magali Urbina told the Guardian.
“Politicians fight and don’t accomplish anything, and the ones that pay are innocent human beings.”
The installation by Texas of the fences and river buoys to block migrants has already altered the Rio Grande’s path near Eagle’s Pass, environmentalists say.
Those alterations threaten to damage habitats for endangered species, including the Texas hornshell mussel and the Monarch butterfly.
“The borderlands are already suffering death by a thousand cuts,” Laiken Jordahl, an advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Guardian.
Last month a small business owner in Texas who runs a kayak and canoe company along the banks of the Rio Grande sued Abbott over his assault on the ecosystem of the border.
“I’m supposed to promote the beauty of the river,” Jesse Fuentes told The Messenger.
"Does that look beautiful to you over there?" he asked, motioning toward the river: "Layer upon layer of concertina, shipping cart containers that are 14 feet high, steel fences and then another fence over there, buoys in the water, all kinds of obstacles that shouldn’t be there."
He also complained that an island in the river had been bulldozed into nonexistence by the Abbott administration.
“Our river is crying. It is stressed. It’s been beaten. It’s been terrorized,” he said. “All that ecosystem, all that flora, all that fauna, it’s gone.”
The Urbinas, meanwhile, expect to lose close to $760,000 this year alone as their orchard continues to deteriorate.
“Maybe we were put here so everybody could see exactly what is happening,” Magali Urbina told the Guardian.
“Politicians fight and don’t accomplish anything, and the ones that pay are innocent human beings.”
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