Texas installs third razor wire barrier on Rio Grande to stave off illegal immigration

Texas placed a third razor wire barrier in the Rio Grande river that separates the U.S. from Mexico, despite criticism from the Mexican government and the risks it may cause to migrants, according to a Wednesday report published by the EFE Spanish language news service in Ciudad Juárez.

The move is the latest in a string of attempt by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reduce illegal immigration that has reached unprecedented levels in the Lone Star state. The last razor wire fence installment occurred in March after a group of migrants breached a barrier and overpowered National Guardsmen securing the border.

Pro-migration activists however, said the measures were “inhumane,” and risked causing harm to the children and those who might seek more dangerous paths when seeking an alternate route, potentially making them susceptible to organized crime and human trafficking.

Pastor Francisco González Palacios, Juárez director of the Somos Uno Shelter Network, told EFE that "it is very regrettable" that the United States allows these barriers, asserting they caused serious injuries to migrants trying to enter the country.

"We have WhatsApp groups to spiritually help (migrants) … and they are the ones who tell us what happened to them and that it was more dangerous … that is why we have this data on injuries,” said the pastor, who coordinates 12 shelters that receive people in transit to the northern country.

The clashes between Mexico and Texas have been growing since July 2023, when Gov. Abbott installed razor wire and a buoy fence in the Rio Grande river, a move that Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described as "inhumane."

A Mexican woman and her two children who drowned in Piedras Negras, Coahuila on January 14.

"Now that they have put up triple wire fencing it is more complicated, it is riskier, and that is not going to stop them from going there, we know that it is not going to be like that, because of how complicated it is in their countries, they are going to continue trying achieve it,” González said.

Juan Carlos López Morales, spokesman for the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez , said the United States must stop seeing migrants as a problem, since they are human beings who seek a solution to their needs, their shortcomings and violence.

"Migration is already risky, leaving the country, culture, loneliness, family, crime, this is a final obstacle," said the spokesperson for the Juárez church. He asserted that these barriers “do not discourage migrants from making their efforts, they do not discourage them, they simply complicate them.”