The Trump administration’s decision to put a floating barrier in the middle of the river comes after Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) made the unprecedented move in 2023 to install a mile of buoys further upstream in the same river between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Mexico’s Piedras Negras, Coahuila.

“Buoys are a great border barrier concept,” White House border czar Tom Homan told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “[Border Patrol] was studying their use at the end of Trump 45 and thought they were an excellent method to secure the border and save lives. They were not deployed because the administration changed hands. Gov. Abbott deployed them soon after and proved that they were very effective. Border barriers such as walls and buoys work. The data proves it.”

Two officials added that Customs and Border Protection has “hundreds of miles of wall being planned” and that the buoys in the Rio Grande Valley were “just the start” to enhancing border security.

Since President Donald Trump’s arrival in office in January, Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants have dropped more than 90% across the southern border. Despite the significant decline, the Trump administration is adamant about shoring up the border to ensure it is left secure before leaving office.

Selene Rodriguez works for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation think tank in Austin and said the buoys are a proven method to deter illegal immigration.

“Left to fend for ourselves, Texas found innovative solutions to secure our border and support our law enforcement,” Rodriguez, director for TPPF’s Secure and Sovereign Texas campaign, wrote in an email. “The buoy barrier was a necessary measure that proved further action can be taken, and we are happy to see that measure now taken by the Trump administration.”

History of the buoys

Border Patrol developed the idea of using buoys as a barrier during the first Trump administration, but because the Biden administration did not support it, the federal agency never implemented it. Texas latched on to the buoy idea after hiring former Border Patrol agent Mike Banks to be the state’s border czar. Banks is now the national Border Patrol chief.

The floating barriers were put in place in 2023 to deal with high levels of illegal immigration in Eagle Pass.

In May 2023, Border Patrol’s remotely located Del Rio Sector, which includes Eagle Pass, reported more than 26,000 illegal immigrant arrests, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

The following month, as immigrants were crossing from Mexico, Abbott announced the state would install a 1,000-foot strip of buoys to prevent river crossings. The project cost $1 million.

The barrier, essentially the maritime version of a wall, was meant to deter immigrants from crossing in certain areas. Other nearby areas contained long stretches of concertina wire that the Texas National Guard had put up on the U.S. riverbank.

Biden administration fights the buoys

The Biden administration asked Abbott to take down the buoys in July 2023, but Abbott refused. The government of Mexico also sent Texas a complaint over the buoys, saying they risked violating the 1944 Water Treaty.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Abbott that ordered the state to remove the floating barrier because it posed “threats to navigation and public safety and presents humanitarian concerns.”

Two dead bodies, presumably immigrants who attempted to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico, were found alongside the buoys in August 2023, according to the Mexican government. Texas officials disputed Mexico’s claim that the bodies were tangled in the buoys and said only one body was found and that the person drowned upstream and drifted downstream toward the buoys.

In court, the Biden administration pushed Judge David Ezra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, a Reagan appointee, to side against the Abbott administration.

Texas attorneys argued that the “invasion” at the international border bestowed upon the state the right to defend itself.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans allowed Texas to keep the buoys in the river, but the appeals panel later sided with the lower court.

In mid-2024, the appeals court decided Ezra should never have granted the Biden administration a preliminary injunction.

Texas looks to gift its buoys to Trump

Texas is waiting for the Trump administration to drop the case, with the Justice Department moving quickly behind the scenes to dissolve legal challenges to the buoys.

On Feb. 3, the DOJ filed an unopposed request that the court stay, or stop, all court proceedings, citing a “change in the presidential administration.” Court documents show that Ezra agreed to the order and signed on Feb. 7, which could expedite the buoy transfer.

The buoys Abbott installed in Eagle Pass could soon be a welcome gift to the Trump administration from Abbott. Texas is in the process of shifting control of the buoys to be under federal control by the Trump administration.

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The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the police force that has overseen the installation and management of the buoys, declared in February that the 2,000-foot floating barrier would soon be entrusted to the Trump administration to manage.

DHS, CBP, and Abbott’s office did not respond to requests for comment.