After it became known, through newspaper articles, that the installation of barbed wire and containers in the bed of the Rio Grande –on the El Paso side– was carried out without consulting the authorities of the International Boundary and Water Commission (CILA, for its acronym in Spanish; IBWC, in English), the governor of Texas was emphatic in responding.
“We are not asking for permission,” he said through his Twitter account that Wednesday. And he justified himself: “instead, we are doing the job of the federal government to secure the border.”
Expanding on his response, Abbott insisted that the Texas National Guard is taking the lead in upholding US law by setting up more than 60 miles of barbed wire barrier along the border.
Nearly three months ago, in December, elements of the Texas National Guard began installing barbed wire and shipping containers along the banks of the Rio Grande, just west of the Paso del Norte International Bridge.
With a 6-foot-tall (1.83-meter) barbed wire fence and military vehicles and soldiers patrolling the area, the deployment is part of Operation Lone Star, Governor Greg Abbott’s border effort to stop illegal immigration. to Texas.
According to the US Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, the state of Texas has not requested permits to build this infrastructure, which is extended every week, on the border.
International agreements between Mexico and the United States give the IBWC control of the riverbank and the ability to grant licenses and construction permission in the area.
A commission spokeswoman said Texas did not request permission before starting work on the Lone Star operation.
In a written statement to El Diario de El Paso, Jessica Grijalva, spokesperson for the IBWC in the US, said a request has been made to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which leads the border security initiative, to submit the required information. for licensing.
The spokeswoman pointed out that communication is ongoing with the different actors involved at the border.
“We have been in communication with the various agencies with a presence at the border regarding the permit requirements for any infrastructure that may have been located or proposed to be located in the USIBWC right-of-way,” Grijalva said.
The IBWC “contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety (which appears to be handling this matter for the National Guard) and requested that they submit information for review by the International Boundary and Water Commission in the United States to go through our review process. permits/licenses for infrastructure located on land controlled by the USIBWC,” the institution said. “They sent us information in December, but they have not responded to our request for additional material that we require.”
The Texas Military Department responded via email that the Texas National Guard does not negotiate land use agreements.
“The Texas National Guard is not the agency that negotiates land use agreements; therefore, we cannot discuss,” an email from the Texas Military Department Public Affairs Office said.
Since January, the Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission submitted to its North American counterpart a request for the removal of the container barrier placed last December on the northern edge of the Rio Grande, between this city and El Paso, Texas.
According to Jesús Luévano, secretary of the Mexican representation, the request was made on January 2 and is the third generated by the presence of similar deposits in the border area.
“I reiterate to you our disagreement that both the aforementioned container barrier, as well as the cyclonic mesh and wire fences, have been installed without your project having been presented to the Commission and that this body had the opportunity to review it. and pronounce on it under the terms of Article IV-B of the 1970 Boundary Treaty”, indicates a fragment of the message from the Mexican Section provided by Luévano.
The IBWC’s vision contrasts with the triumphalism that Abbott wields.
“Texas National Guard soldiers blocked a wave of illegal immigrants trying to cross the border illegally into El Paso,” the president tweeted last week.
“Biden’s open border policies have created a record crisis of illegal immigration. Texas is protecting our state, and the United States, in its absence,” adds the governor’s text on the social network.
