"The department is aware of the troubling reports, and we are actively working with [the Department of Homeland Security] and other relevant agencies to assess the situation," Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, told the daily.that a Texas Department of Public Safety agent alleged that troopers deployed along the Rio Grande as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star were instructed to push migrants injured by barbed wire back into the river.
The agent also said that officials were instructed not to provide migrants with drinking water, even in the extreme Texas heat, according to Hearst's reporting. Other agencies, including the U.S. State Department, have also launched inquiries into Abbott's controversial $4.4 billion border crackdown. Specifically, the State Department told theon Tuesday that Texas hasn't responded to requests for information about a floating buoy barrier Abbott ordered installed along the Rio Grande earlier this month.
Eagle Pass landowner Hugo Urbina also said he witnessed razor wire attached to the buoys injure several migrants,