Residents, tribal leaders and scientists urge Zapata County to oppose proposed DHS "smart wall" and buoy barriers

Martin Cast, a science director with an International Study Center, told the Zapata County Commissioners Court on Nov. 11, 2025 that Homeland Security’s public “smartwall” data show a planned 24.7-mile wall alignment and an extensive string of floating buoy barriers that would run along the county’s Rio Grande riverfront. He said the federal plan includes a 150-foot security enforcement zone that would require large swaths of riverfront and risk land condemnation and displacement.

Why it matters: The proposed infrastructure, presenters said, would intersect town water‑treatment intakes, sever colonias and residential areas, and fragment critical wildlife habitat and archaeological sites. Tribal leaders and scientists highlighted prehistoric burial discoveries in the county and said federal waivers of environmental and cultural protections used previously would compound the risk.

"This 150‑foot enforcement zone is the same as a five‑lane highway," Martin Cast said in the presentation, summarizing maps he prepared from DHS spatial data. "These buoys are about the size of a person ... there's a circular saw blade designed to injure." He said the smartwall dataset he used lists the Zapata segment as "planned" and that buoy barriers could extend along riverfronts and intakes.

Trisha, executive director with the Grand International Studies Center, told commissioners that installations in other communities have caused documented harm. "In the initial first couple of months, two immigrants were caught up in them and did drown," she said, citing local contacts in Eagle Pass who monitored those installations.

Local landowners and residents described personal and economic stakes. "The Rio Grande is why our families settled here," said Daniel Nicholson, a multi‑generation landowner. He asked the court to put water security and river stewardship at the center of county decision‑making. Homeowner Elsa Hall showed a zoomed map of her three‑acre property and said a proposed enforcement zone would eliminate her ability to live and steward the land. Dr. Christopher Basaldu, an anthropologist and co‑founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, framed the project as an environmental and cultural threat. "The border wall and the murder buoys that they're trying to put into the river will kill the river," he said.

County response and next steps: The court did not vote on a formal resolution at the meeting — several commissioners and members of the public noted the item was not on the posted agenda — but staff and members said they would consider scheduling an upcoming meeting to review a draft resolution and coordinate with the city of Laredo, Webb County and regional partners. Commissioners also discussed legal and technical follow‑up: seeking hydrology and geomorphology studies, tracking DHS contract timelines, and preparing for possible federal requests for right of entry or condemnation.

What remained unresolved: Presenters and residents urged the court to confirm what federal waivers would apply and to assess whether proposed buoy placement would alter river flows in ways that could cut off county water intakes. The court agreed to explore a possible resolution and to share information from Laredo’s contemporaneous actions with the county.

The court moved on to other agenda items and did not adopt a resolution during the session. Members of the public said they would provide maps and ask the county to place a formal opposition or coordinating resolution on a future meeting agenda.