Reporter's notebook: Traveling along the Rio Grande amid immigration buoy controversy
As the sun rose in Eagle Pass, Texas, dozens of law enforcement agents closely watched as we launched our kayaks into the Rio Grande near the epicenter of Operation Lone Star.
Jessie Fuentes, the owner of Epi's Canoe and Kayaking, worked with the local government to gain temporary access to the river for our four-hour excursion. A small group was allowed to tag along with the Eagle Pass native as he ventured to the infamous red-buoy barrier.
Fuentes has worked years to build up a business that focuses on showing the beauty of his community, which has come to a halt the last couple of months due to the increased law enforcement presence along the Rio Grande from Operation Lone Star.
Despite our kayak launch site being a public park, this area has been closed to the public for months.
The journey was surreal, unlike anything I've ever experienced while covering immigration for more than a decade. When looking toward Mexico you saw families taking pictures, people exercising and a fairly pristine riverbank.
When looking toward Texas you saw overgrown foliage, tin shipping containers with "China" labeled on them, guardsmen with heavy weapons and layers of concertina wire.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot "has said he is not removing this. So, where do we stand?" I asked Fuentes. "I have to believe, with all my heart, that this won't be here soon," he said. "I feel it in me. Because it is unnatural, it doesn't belong."
About a mile into our journey, we spotted a group of 12-15 migrants, including many young children. We witnessed them trying to get help from DPS troopers and Texas guardsmen but were seemingly ignored.
We listened as they were told if they wanted help they'd have to walk further downriver and find U.S. Border Patrol Agents.
When we finally got to the buoys, it was a stark reality check.
The barrier doesn't stretch across the river, from the Texas river bank to Mexico's bank; it's just a floating link of buoys in the middle of the river. The buoys are made of hard plastic, tethered to the bottom of the river with heavy cable and only about a half-mile long.
As we wrapped up our time on the river near the barrier the same migrant group we saw earlier, passed nearby. Some took pictures of the buoys as they laughed.
One women said, "Eso no sirven de nada por que aqui estamos con fuerza." Which translates to, "Those things don't do anything because we are here with force."
Fuentes is suing the State of Texas and Governor Abbott over the barrier. His suit is now running parallel to the DOJ lawsuit filed last week.
"You see all the build-up here," Fuentes added, as he pointed to the militarized look of the Texas riverbank. "I just don't know how determined the Governor is to keep disrespecting the river and people that live by it. Just disrespecting human beings."
