Greg Abbott Receives Boost Over Texas' Circular Saw Barriers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has received backing for controversial marine barriers and other measures used to deter migrants at the Texas-Mexico border.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the state after the governor installed a barrier made up of floating buoys that have circular saws between them in the Rio Grande at the border with Mexico in July.

The DOJ warned that it violates federal law and raises humanitarian concerns for migrants crossing into the country from Mexico and asked a court to force Texas to remove it.

The department also argued it poses a threat to the environment and claimed it illegally disrupts navigation and was installed without necessary permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Despite opposition, a new poll has found a majority of Republicans say they support such deterrents, even if people are endangered or killed.

Some 77 percent said they favor deterrents, including razor wire and buoy barriers, according to the survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution.

Meanwhile, just 15 percent of Democrats and 44 percent of independents said the same, while overall, 52 percent of Americans oppose installing deterrents, while 44 percent said they support them.

The same poll found that 82 percent of Republicans backed former President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, while 81 percent of Democrats oppose it.

In general, 47 percent support the plan, while 50 percent are against it.

The controversial floating buoys have circular saws between them, according to a video posted by Democrat Rep. Sylvia Garcia in August. The border also has razor-wire fencing.

In August, Mexican authorities reported that two bodies were recovered from the Rio Grande, including one that was caught in the floating barrier and The Houston Chronicle reports hundreds of migrants have been treated for injuries from razor wire.

When they were installed, Abbot said the barriers would help deter illegal river crossings by migrants and advised people to use one of the 29 international bridges on the Texas-Mexico border.

He also sent a letter to President Joe Biden that defended Texas' right to install the barrier. He accused Biden of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from attempting the journey to the U.S.

In September, a judge ordered Texas to move the barrier. Federal Judge David Ezra issued a preliminary injunction in the state capital Austin that required Texas to relocate the controversial buoys, currently near the city of Eagle Pass, to an embankment on the Texas side of the river as part of the ongoing legal battle.

But the following day, a federal appeals court granted Texas' request to leave the barrier, The Texas Tribune reported.

Newsweek has contacted Abbot via email for comment.

In October, Abbot installed more fencing along the border. Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez called on him to take it down and called it "unconstitutional".

This week, a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection agents to stop cutting the razor wire for at least the next two weeks after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration for destroying sections of the southern border fence.

Responding to the poll, National Republican Congressional Committee national press secretary Will Reinert said in a statement provided to news outlet Axios Latino: "Extreme Democrats balk at any effort to secure the border and halt terrorist-linked illegal immigrants or the flood of deadly fentanyl. Their attitude puts Americans' lives at risk."