Loose buoys prompt Laredo mayor’s call for pause; residents raise wall concerns

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) -Buoys in the Rio Grande near Webb County have reportedly come loose after heavy rainfall for the second time since July, prompting Laredo’s mayor to call for their recovery and a pause on further placement.

KGNS cameras captured loose buoys in the river following the rainfall. Mayor Victor Trevino said they landed on the Mexican side of the river, where water intakes are more exposed.

“We had seen this problem before. And that’s why we had said that we had to have a previous study regarding on how the buoys were going to be placed, what the new measures were going to be. And the studies related to that, we have not had any studies. The buoys were placed again. And here we are with a problem again,” Trevino said.

CBP told KGNS it has placed 14 miles of a planned 122 miles of “waterborne barriers” in the Laredo sector.

Azteca residents voice concerns

Residents also worry that a border wall could be built through the Azteca neighborhood.

Cynthia Trevino lives in the neighborhood. She said she was on the waitlist for an apartment there for seven years and moved in May with her two sons.

“It’s a very scary thought, because I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. Where will we go?” Trevino said.

“Are they going to be able to continue helping us, or are we going to be left out on our own to start all over again? Some of us don’t have the resources to just, you know, oh, okay, I’ll go to the bank and get my hundreds out and go get a new place. Some of us can’t do that. Some of us work and live check to check. We need to stay in this housing.”

Kimberly Fritz also spoke about the possibility of a wall.

“I really wouldn’t like to have the wall up. You know, hopefully, everybody helps so the wall doesn’t have to be there,” Fritz said.

Mayor Trevino said Laredo has avoided a border wall through negotiation and collaboration. He said the city’s safety record and border monitoring make building a wall unnecessary.

He plans to continue presenting evidence and working with officials to prevent wall construction in the Azteca area.

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