Texas National Guard installs anti-climbing barriers at border as second line of defense behind water barriers

Texas National Guard Engineer Response Teams were deployed to repair existing concertina-wire barriers and install new anti-climbing barriers in Brownsville, Texas.

The wire barriers have reportedly been damaged by illegal border-crossers, but the Department of Homeland Security has also been pictured cutting the wire. The DHS has been ordered to leave the wire alone unless it is in response to an emergency medical situation, a judge recently declared, according to NBC News.

The state of Texas announced that the anti-climbing barriers near Brownsville will be placed behind existing reinforced concertina wire, where it is used as an added prevention method at water crossings.

The state has also used water buoys to prevent crossings.

"We know Texas has the right to legally deploy those buoys in the water to prevent people from entering our country and our state illegally," Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) said.

The barriers, which the state said are used to "prevent the use of ladders or other scaling devices to illegally cross from Mexico into Texas," are fairly simple in their application.

They were described by outlet KSAT 12 as eight-foot fencing barriers that are strung together and wrapped in razor wire.

Captain Chris Daniel, the operation's commanding officer, explained why the fencing was erected.

"We have bad actors that are coming over, opening up the [concertina wire, and] allowing traffic to move through," Captain Daniel said.

"They’re going to have to do a lot more cutting to get through the ACB. What we’re trying to do is create a barrier that’s going to allow Task Force South, DPS, whoever else is down here, and some of the drone teams to be able to hopefully intercept those bad actors and stop them from manipulating those barriers."

Brownsville has often been the target of barrier projects across multiple administrations. The 2006 Secure Fence Act under President Bush called for at least "2 layers of reinforced fencing, the installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors" at multiple border crossings including Brownsville and Laredo, Texas.

A 2017 plan under President Trump called for 150 miles of new fencing including 12 miles around the Rio Grande Valley, which includes Brownsville, CNN reported.

The new construction and replacement fencing were part of a $5 billion project at the time.

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