Presidio Mayor John Ferguson joined regional advocates and longtime Rio Grande river outfitter Charles Angell in calling for the immediate removal of concertina wire installed in the Rio Grande floodplain near Presidio, arguing the barrier endangers lives and violates Army engineering standards.
In a June 8 letter addressed to Joint Task Force–Southern Border Commander Maj. Gen. Curtis A. Taylor and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, the coalition warned that the wire could break loose during seasonal flooding and become a downstream hazard for residents, ranchers, tourists, wildlife and river users.
The letter was signed by Ferguson; Charles Angell, a longtime river guide and outfitter in the Big Bend region; Joselyn Fenstermacher, president of the Big Bend Citizens Alliance; Crystal Allbright of NoWall79852; and Glenn Smith of the Rio Grande Institute.
The complaint follows a May 7 statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection defending the wire installation, saying concertina wire along the Rio Grande is “appropriately secured to withstand seasonal flooding and other natural events” as part of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14165, “Securing Our Borders.”
The signatories directly dispute that claim.
According to the letter, the wire installation near Presidio sits in the Rio Grande floodplain on fine-grained alluvial soils that Army engineering manuals identify as poorly suited for load-bearing stakes, particularly during flooding. The authors argue the steel pickets supporting the concertina wire are vulnerable to failure when saturated soils lose holding strength during river rises.
The letter also alleges installation defects visible in photographs taken at the site. According to the authors, coils of razor wire were not properly fastened to Army-standard steel pickets through designated attachment points and instead rely largely on spring tension and minimal tie wire.
“When the Rio Grande rises,” the letter argues, “the concertina coils will mobilize in the flood, and the wire will travel downstream.”
The authors contend drifting wire could become entangled in vegetation or riverbanks, posing risks to livestock, children, recreation users and cleanup crews while potentially altering sediment deposition and river flow in ways prohibited under federal law and the 1970 treaty governing the Rio Grande boundary.
The letter cites recent flooding concerns as evidence of urgency, including a June 3 rain event near Redford that required Texas Department of Transportation crews to clear debris from FM 170 downstream of portions of the installation.
The coalition requested an immediate technical review and removal of the wire before significant summer flooding arrives, warning that the installation “will not survive a meaningful rise of the Rio Grande” and could have dangerous downstream consequences.
