Donald Trump has overseen a historic turnaround at the southern border.
He wants to make sure it's sealed shut.
And the Border Patrol had one nasty surprise for illegal aliens in Texas that was their worst nightmare.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Drops Massive Orange Buoys Into Rio Grande
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol began the initial phase of what will eventually be a 500-mile long buoy system in the Rio Grande River designed to stop illegal aliens from crossing into the United States.
CBP started dropping the massive orange buoys into the river this week.
Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks called them "game changers" and shared video of the new system making a splash as it dropped into the water between the U.S. and Mexico.
This new buoy system is separate from the 2,000 foot-long string of round spheres Texas placed in the Rio Grande back in 2023.
CBP's cylindrical buoys connect tightly together, leaving no gaps for illegal aliens to squeeze through, and will eventually stretch 500 miles.
Banks explained how the system works.
"As you try to climb up onto the buoys, they roll backwards, preventing you from climbing on," Banks stated.
The cylinder shape floats better, giving agents more control over the barrier.
Secretary Noem Says Buoys Part of Trump's Smart Wall Plan
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the buoys are part of the Smart Wall plan the Trump administration is rolling out.
"The buoys that you see here today behind me are ones that are made right in America by a family-owned company down the road here in Texas," Noem stated.
The barriers will make it much harder for illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and human traffickers to cross the river and other waterways where they're deployed.
The Biden administration sat on this project for four years.
Banks said the buoy barrier was planned during Trump's first administration, but when Joe Biden took office, everything stopped.
CBP had everything ready to go—signed contracts, deployment plans—then Biden took office and killed the whole project.
Biden Administration Sued Texas Over Original Buoy System
The Biden administration didn't just refuse to install the buoys.
They actively fought Texas in court when Governor Abbott deployed the original 2,000-foot buoy system in 2023.
The Justice Department sued Texas, claiming the buoys violated the Rivers and Harbors Act and interfered with federal immigration enforcement.
That lawsuit dragged on while illegal aliens kept pouring across the border.
Now Trump's in charge, the lawsuit is dead, and the federal government is deploying buoys on a scale that makes Texas's original system look tiny.
After Banks left the border patrol, he went to work for Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott as the Texas Border Czar and worked on the buoy project in the Lone Star state.
Texas proved the system works as a deterrent, which is why Trump is rolling it out nationwide now.
Physical Border Wall Construction Ramping Up as Buoys Deploy
The buoy system isn't the only thing Trump's building at the border.
Physical border wall construction is ramping up across multiple sectors after sitting dormant for four years under Biden.
Trump inherited hundreds of miles of unused border wall materials that Biden left rusting in storage.
Now those materials are finally being put to use.
The combination of physical barriers on land and water barriers in the Rio Grande creates a comprehensive border security system that Biden refused to build.
Trump Creates Nowhere to Run Scenario at the Border
While Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are clearing communities of criminal illegal aliens already here, CBP is busy preventing them from coming back in.
Trump planned this barrier during his first term and got the contracts signed.
Then Biden killed it for four years while millions of illegal aliens poured across the border.
Now Texas proved the concept works, and Trump's bringing it back bigger than before.
That's 500 miles of American-made cylindrical buoys that roll backwards when anyone tries to climb them.
The cartels spent four years exploiting Biden's open border.
Those days are over.
Trump's not just stopping the flow—he's making it physically impossible to cross major stretches of the Rio Grande.
He's building the wall on land while deploying barriers in the water.
And he's doing it with barriers made by a family-owned Texas company, creating American jobs while securing America's border.
The buoys go in the water, the wall goes up, the illegal aliens stay in Mexico, and American communities get safer every single day.
Sources:
- Teri Christoph, "You Shall Not Pass: CBP Drops Giant Orange Buoys Into Rio Grande to Remind Illegals the Border Is Closed," RedState, January 16, 2026.
- Katie Jerkovich, "Final Hurdles Cleared for Rio Grande Buoy System," RedState, December 2025.
- Department of Justice, "United States v. State of Texas," Case No. 1:23-cv-00853, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, 2023.
