The US-Mexico floating border is equipped with ‘circular saws’

Issued on: 11/08/2023 – 15:33

3 min

When Texas Governor Todd Abbott announced on June 6, 2023, the deployment of a “floating marine barrier” to deter illegal crossings over the US-Mexico border, an important detail was left out: the ball-shaped orange buoys are equipped with “circular saws” that make it almost impossible to cross without risking injuries.

Representatives of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) came to Eagle Pass, Texas at the southern borders on August 8, 2023 and shared many videos on their X (formerly Twitter) accounts providing a closer look at the installations and their equipment, which include sharp metal disks between orange floating buoys.

Eagle Pass has emerged as one of the more dangerous crossing points on the border where drownings of migrants have become commonplace.

The CHC said its members came to Texas to “sound the alarm on these inhumane tactics at the hands of Gov. Abbott”.

A 12-second long video, shared first by Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, has been viewed more than 25 million times. 

On July 21, 2023, the US Justice Department filed a complaint against Governor Abbott over the floating border barrier. The lawsuit deems the placement of such a barrier “illegal” and aims to force Texas to remove it over humanitarian and environmental concerns.

‘Treating human beings like animals’

The militarisation of the US southern border with Mexico is part of Abbott’s multibillion-dollar effort to “proactively” halt the arrivals of migrants through the southern border.

The marine fence is only one part of a series of six bills with a $5.1 billion budget, announced on June 6, 2023.

Texas’s strict migration policy, including bussing people to northern blue states and authorising the National Guard to make arrests, inspired other Republican states across the US to take similar measures to curb illegal immigration.

Read moreMigrants sent by bus to northern US cities: A ‘publicity stunt’ crippling aid organisations

Asked for a comment, Governor Abbott’s office did not respond to our requests. 

“I want you to look here at the chainsaw-type device they hid right in the middle of these buoys. And then when you come over here you can see in the distance all that razor wire right against the river,” said Congressman Joaquin Castro, who also took part in the CHC’s visit to Texas.

“So, you really have a situation where the state government and Greg Abbott are treating human beings like animals,” he added in a video published on August 8, 2023 on his X account.

Floating border manufactured by Cochrane Global 

In the 12-second video, we hear a person saying, “Somebody went through a lot of ridiculous efforts to design these things”.

On the buoys, we can read the word “Cochrane”. Cochrane Global is a multinational company that specialises in “high-security perimeter barriers” for government, commercial and private interests.

On its website, Cochrane Global indicates that “the patented floating barrier is comprised of multiple interconnected buoys which can be extended to any length and customised to their application”.

On August 4, 2023, a body was found near the floating border barrier installed in the river, across from Eagle Pass, Texas.

It is unclear whether the design of the orange buoys was devised and manufactured by Cochrane Global or was made at the request of state officials.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team reached out to Cochrane Global for comment. If they respond, we will update this page.