Body found in Texas floating barrier, says Mexico

The Mexican government on Wednesday said that a dead body has been spotted along the controversial floating barriers.

The bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys were recently installed by Texas authorities to stop migrants crossing into the United States. 

What we know so far

US authorities informed Mexico that "they found the body of a lifeless person stuck in the southern part of the buoys" on the Rio Grande river, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in its statement.

Authorities were trying to retrieve the body, the department said, adding that the cause of death and the person's nationality was not yet known.

The floating barrier was installed in July at a popular migrant crossing point on the Rio Grande on the instructions of Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

The barrier's design makes it more difficult for migrants to climb over or swim underneath. It stretches roughly the length of three soccer fields.

"We made clear our concern about the impact on migrant's safety and human rights that these state policies would have," the Mexican foreign department said in its statement.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that the barriers violate his country's sovereignty.

The US Justice Department is suing Abbott over the barrier, with a lawsuit asking a court to enforce its removal. US President Joe Biden's administration says the barrier raises humanitarian and environmental concerns.

Hundreds of migrants die every year along the US-Mexico border. Most of the deaths occur while trying to cross the Rio Grande.

dvv/rc (AFP, AP)