Gov. Abbott Refuses Federal Request Over Island Used by Mexico Cartels

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that he will not comply with a request from a federal agency to restore Fronton Island to “pre-construction conditions,” after the Lone Star State took measures to secure the island from cartels.

The International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) had asked for “the installed obstructions such as the concertina wire fence” to be removed to “reestablish the previous ability for water flow into the existing channel north of the island.”

The island, located in the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico, has served as a hotspot for human traffickers and criminal cartels, according to a 2023 press release from the Texas General Land Office (GLO).

Abbott sent the Sept. 10 letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris refusing to comply, saying he would not “cede state land to transnational criminal cartels smuggling people, weapons, and drugs.”

Abbott said cartels had for years been running rampant in the island’s thick vegetation and structures, which they used “to stage illegal entries, surveil state and federal law enforcement, stash weapons, plant explosives, evade apprehension, and engage in open warfare against rival cartels and against state and federal officers.”

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