Abbott rejects Biden demand for control of Fronton Island

Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemning their efforts to “undercut Texas’ historic border security efforts” and refusing to restore Fronton Island to pre-construction conditions.

“I am in receipt of a letter from the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) …  given that it concerns actions taken under Operation Lone Star to secure Texas’ southern border around Fronton Island against the ongoing invasion of Texas by transnational criminal cartels — a crisis created and incentivized by your Administration,” Abbott wrote.

Abbott added that the letter “alleges that GLO has altered the flow of the Rio Grande by engaging in activities on Fronton Island without USIBWC’s approval.”

“It also alleges that [the] GLO trespassed on federal land in the process of facilitating cleanup and security efforts on the Island … That agency responded in a letter … detailing that GLO has not engaged in construction activities at all, and, in any event, Fronton Island is state-owned land.”

Abbott then responded to the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner’s request that Fronton Island be returned to its pre-construction conditions: “You are either unaware of, or indifferent to, what those ‘pre-construction conditions’ were.”

Before Texas secured Fronton Island, Abbott wrote, “[T]ransnational criminal cartels had assumed practical control of the densely vegetated Island and used it to terrorize Texas communities.”

He recounted occasions when authorities found the criminal cartels to be using the “thick vegetation” to “stash weapons, plant explosives, evade apprehension, and engage in open warfare against rival cartels and against state and federal officers.”

“Are you aware that your appointee is asking Texas to return grenades and rocket launchers along with IEDs to the Island?” he asked the Biden administration.

Abbott continued, “Your open-border policies have allowed an invasion at the southern border and incentivized criminal activity that threatens the lives of Texas law enforcement, soldiers, and citizens.”

“Yet … the federal government has refused to enforce federal laws — even in dangerous areas like Fronton Island.”

“I determined that Texas could not ignore an ongoing invasion of its sovereign territory,” Abbott said of his decision on October 5, 2023 to move a “heavily armed invasion force” onto Fronton Island.

He then addressed USIBWC’s complaint that Texas had built “two sediment bridges.”

“Your Administration’s letter betrays a basic misunderstanding of facts on the ground, and its claims are unsupported by either science or common sense.”

In 2023, a group of Texas Rangers began an operation to secure Fronton Island from cartel control after Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham gave her approval, citing the GLO’s research which asserts the land is state-owned. IBCW argued that Mexico had ceded the 170-acres to the U.S. after failing to correct the flow of the Rio Grande to the south of Fronton Island following surveys conducted in the 1970s.

Neither Buckingham nor the IBCW have indicated any plans to back down, with each claiming ownership of the land and thus control over construction.

Abbott concluded, “Rather than undercutting efforts to make our communities safe, you should direct the ‘U.S. section’ of IBWC to start putting Americans first.”

The letter was signed by Abbott, and included  Giner, the Texas Military Department’s head Major Gen. Thomas Suelzer, Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.