Originally published at: Texas Congressman shows us chainsaw buoys that Greg Abbott set up in Rio Grande: "It's barbaric" (video) | Boing Boing
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Have a not-a-lawyer gormless question about this, halfway across the Rio Grande is the border between the U.S. and Mexico, yes? So can any non-national (non-federal) entity legally construct any structure there? And/or couldn’t Mexico, declaring that it wasn’t the effort of a recognized authority on their shared national boundaries just throw a grapnel over it and rip it out?
and yes, its implementation is utterly barbaric in just “the cruelty is the goal” fashion. Why would such a vile person as abbott ever be reelected??
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Circular saw blades, not “chainsaw-like devices”… but still easy to severely injure yourself should you try to climb over them - or just hang onto them to keep from drowning. I’m fairly certain those things would be illegal even if their purpose was just to trap animals. Some would argue “why would you try to climb over them if you aren’t already breaking the law?” But I’m pretty certain that the courts have outlawed booby-traps intended to maim trespassers, even in your own home. It seems like it would fall under reckless endangerment. And I’m not certain maiming someone for a crime isn’t considered “cruel and unusual punishment”.
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In addition, FUCK THOSE ASSHOLES WHO EVER CONCEIVED OF SUCH A DEVICE to market it to the state of Texas anyhow!
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I notice those disks when I saw the first news clip about them. Pretty sure its to keep people from trying to climb over in between the balls. That and the razor wire is pretty messed up.
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Biden administration is currently suing Texas over this very question. Most legal experts agree that established laws and treaties clearly leave enforcement of the national border to the federal government in spite of what Abbott claims.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/politics/doj-texas-border-water-barriers/index.html
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It looks like they’re sharpened aluminum disks? Chainsaw is probably not the right word.
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I’m not going to nitpick the man over his choice of terminology, the key point is he’s not wrong that these devices are cruel, disgusting, and need to be tossed into the weed bin of attempts by the United States to inflict human suffering on those who are “not as white as we are.”
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“Treating them like animals” matches exactly the GOP ethos/goal
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Minor quibble, as in this particular instance, the US government is in court trying to end this mess. This is a TX thing alone.
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Native Texan here. It’s because it’s Texas, and we’re chock full of vile, cruel, hateful Republicans. Add to that the people who sort of mildly disagree with all that, but for whom none of it is a dealbreaker plus the people who just don’t vote and you get…Abbott, and the even worse Lt. Gov., and the state Atty. Gen. who has been impeached & is under Federal indictment, and…
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Simple question. Who manufactured the buoys or modified them? I “assume”, these are not off the shelf purchases. Who wrote the purchase specs?
Legal liability could flow from there.
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The medieval cruelty is the point. I am reminded ot Trump’s idea to use alligators to dissuade river crossings.
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I’m still of the opinion Biden could end it in a second by having border patrol simply remove these illegal devices from the border they control. But he’d rather the court take the loss so he doesn’t have to dirty his hands and can make the tepid claim he’s still tough on security (which will never mollify right wingers of course, but Biden seems to think he can still reach across that aisle).
EDIT: and additionally, he could then BILL Texas for the work, and let them fight it out in court over THAT aspect of this.
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I think this is assuming a lot. There is plenty of reason to expect a win, and handing Abbott his ass in court would (hopefully) stop this from happening again. I suspect you are not giving the Biden admin much credit here.
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Sorry, I wasn’t clear. He’s letting a judge take the L in the court of right-wing public opinion when they rule against Abbott. That way, Biden can say he’s still tough in immigration policy and it’s not his fault the barrier got removed.
But maybe I’m not giving him enough credit. Hard not to be cynic when you’ve watched the Democratic party do this sort of political calculations game with bandying things around in court rather than simply doing the right thing which is fully within their power to do, and let the states be the ones forced to pursue what is likely the losing course in court.
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Yet the US government had it under consideration according to this article. Still, they have bought other products from the company. 
Here’s the company who’s behind the manufacture of such medieval devices – an international fencing company called Corchrane headquartered in South Africa, with branches in several cities around the world. Folks, if it’s in your power to hinder their fascist, capitalist agenda, please do so.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/texas-buoys-abbott-cochrane-18198745.php
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Specifically why I included in this particular instance. The US gov has way too many shitty things to it’s credit to count. This one, specifically, is not.
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I’ll bet DeSantis will make a special visit to inspect them. This is totally his kind of thing.
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