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Migrants wounded by razor wire on Texas floating border barrier

Migrants wade past the state's floating barrier in the Rio Grande. Because of the concertina wire installed along the riverbank, migrants are told to walk to the end of the wire where state troopers and National Guard are waiting to detain them. Some find gaps in the concertina wire and manage to get through. Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune
Migrants wade past the state's floating barrier in the Rio Grande. Because of the concertina wire installed along the riverbank, migrants are told to walk to the end of the wire where state troopers and National Guard are waiting to detain them. Some find gaps in the concertina wire and manage to get through. Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune

On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we discuss the militarization of borders in Texas. According to a USA Today investigation, along Texas' floating border barrier, migrants have been slashed and seriously injured by razor wire.

The Texas Tribune reports that Texas lawmakers have allocated nearly $10B for the state’s border buildup, which began in 2021 and has sent Department of Public Safety troopers and National Guard members to parts of the 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border, where they often arrest migrants who cross the Rio Grande and charge them with trespassing.

Guests:

Rick Jervis, national correspondent for USA TODAY, covering the border

Uriel García, immigration reporter at the Texas Tribune

Web Resources:

USA Today: Along Texas' floating border barrier, migrant children left bloody by razor wire

Texas Tribune: Eagle Pass residents sour on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star

The Guardian: ‘Like traps meant for animals’: death no deterrent at the Rio Grande river barrier

Texas Monthly: Greg Abbott’s Border Policy Is at Once Cruel and Ineffective. Many State Leaders Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way.

Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.
Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.