The Rio Grande is undergoing changes aimed at preventing migrants hoping to cross into the United States from using the border ecosystem to their advantage.
As noted by Border Report, law enforcement officials said a small island between the Mexican border city of Miguel Alemán and the U.S. border city of Roma can be used by individuals to hide and even smuggle migrants into the United States, and work is now underway to remove it.
Work to remove the island began during the last week of February and, according to Border Report, it is not the first time an island in the middle of the Rio Grande has been cleared in Starr County, Texas. A couple of years ago, the Texas Military Department, under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, cleared another river island near the town of Fronton, commonly known as Fronton Island.
Although immigration authorities argue these islands can be used by migrants and criminal groups to move people into the United States, they also serve other purposes.
In addition to providing habitat for endemic plant and animal species along the U.S. Mexico border, the islands carry historical and cultural significance. For the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, they are sites where sacred ceremonies and rituals have taken place.
"Everything that's in the river or where there was a crossing in the river, especially those islands, there are meaningful events that occurred there, especially very sacred things," tribal leader Juan Mancias told Border Report. "This river moves. It's alive. It's a living thing for us and the river didn't know any borders before."
Like Mancias, residents of Roma and activists have raised concerns about removing the island.
"It breaks my heart and it also makes me angry that my government is doing this because it's such a loss for so many reasons," environmentalist Jim Chapman of the nonprofit group Friends of the Wildlife Corridor said to the outlet.
In March of last year, Texas officials called on the Trump administration to remove the Roma and Beaver islands, arguing they are hotspots for human smuggling and that clearing them would significantly enhance border security.
According to data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the four southernmost counties of Texas, which include Starr County, contain a documented 1,200 plant species, 300 butterfly species and approximately 700 vertebrates, most of them birds.
The region is also home to endangered species such as the ocelot, a wild cat whose population in the United States has fallen to fewer than 50.
"Roma, Texas, is known for birding and butterfly watching along the border, so it's disheartening to see the destruction of the island like that," Juan Moreno, a math teacher from Roma, told Border Report. "It's devastating the island."
Originally published on Latin Times
© 2025 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
