A dead body was discovered floating in the controversial floating barriers which were installed by the authorities in Texas to block migrants from crossing into the United States, said the Mexican government on Wednesday (August 2).
Mexico was informed by the government authorities in the United States that “they found the body of a lifeless person stuck in the southern part of the buoys” on the Rio Grande river, said the Mexican foreign ministry in a statement.
The ministry added that the nationality of the victim and the cause of death is not known.
The Mexican ministry stated, “We are concerned about the impact on migrants’ human rights and personal security that these state policies could have, as they go in the opposite direction to close collaboration.”
The buoys were installed in the river by the authorities at a crossing point which is popular among migrants in July over the instructions of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The buoys were installed along with large razor-wire barriers on shore.
The Texas government, while installing the barrier in July, had stated that the buoys would “help deter illegal immigrants attempting to make the dangerous river crossing into Texas”.
US envoy calls anti-migrant river buoys ‘illegal’
US ambassador to the Latin American country on Thursday (August 3) called the floating barrier, which was installed by the authorities of Texas to stop migrants crossing the border from Mexico, ‘illegal’.
“It seems to me that what Texas is doing is illegal. But they are also doing it to make migration a political issue, and not a humanitarian and economic issue,” said Ken Salazar, while speaking to the reporters.
The US Justice Department, in response, filed a lawsuit in a federal court, stating that the buoys were illegally installed to obstruct river navigation and lacked federal authorisation.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stated that the sovereignty of the country has been violated by the barriers.
WATCH | US-Mexico border: Migrants risk death crossing treacherous Rio Grande River | World News | WION
As per Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena, three-quarters of the roughly 300-meter (1,000-foot) barrier has been located in Mexican territory.
She stated that two diplomatic notes were sent by the office to Washington specifying the border treaties which were being breached.
More than 60 organisations sent a joint letter to Texan state legislators on Tuesday (August 1), appealing to them to put an end to “violent border strategies” and remove the buoys from the Rio Grande, said the Border Network for Human Rights organisation in a statement.
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