'Why doesn't anybody care?' Texas-Mexico border devastated by anti-migrant operation
Source: The Guardian
Why doesnt anybody care? Texas-Mexico border devastated by anti-migrant operation
Greg Abbotts strategy to deter immigration isnt just harming people and costing billions its ruining the Rio Grandes ecosystem
Michael Gonzalez in Eagle Pass
Sun 5 May 2024 15.00 BST
Last modified on Sun 5 May 2024 17.32 BST
Strong-arm strategies by Texas along the US-Mexico border have eroded more than human rights for migrants seeking asylum in the US; they have degraded the environment and now the destruction is escalating.
In the hotspot of Eagle Pass, environmental damage from years of expansion of anti-migration security measures can be seen everywhere.
From the bald banks of the Rio Grande, cleared of lush vegetation to make roads for patrol vehicles, and the empty, rusty shipping containers blocking the river, to all the razor wire, the militarized scene contrasts starkly with the Mexican side of the river.
Now a new construction project is under way after the rightwing Texas governor, Greg Abbott, announced a $170m, 80-acre facility dubbed Camp Eagle along the river to support up to 2,300 Texas national guards, signifying a more permanent presence of such troops in the area since the state deployed them in 2021, despite immigration enforcement being a federal jurisdiction. Land is being cleared apace.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/05/texas-mexico-border-immigration-strategy-environmental-devastation