The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the start of the Operation River Walla new strategy aimed at strengthening control of the Rio Grande, preventing the entry of migrants, combating drug trafficking and other criminal activities on the country’s southern border.
The announcement of the deployment came with a tweet. “We are taking decisive action to control our southern border along the Rio Grande. We own the rivers,” the Coast Guard wrote in its X account. Four words (we own the rivers) that summarize the spirit of the operation: the river as an extension of the wall.
More than a hundred tactical vessels, shallow water boats, armed guards and command teams already patrol the 260 kilometers of river that separate Texas from Mexico. In the videos released by the DHS, the Rio Grande has become a military scene. Bulletproof vests. Night vision scopes. Engines roaring over murky water.
@USCG is taking decisive action to control our southern border along the Rio Grande River. We’ve launched #OperationRiverWall and continue to deploy additional forces to control approximately 260 miles of US border along the Rio Grande River.
The Rio Grande is a complex… pic.twitter.com/OnkrdYN5d4
— US Coast Guard (@USCG) October 20, 2025
The commander of the operation, Chris Cumberland, describes the objective as confronting “drug trafficking and other threats that put national security at risk.” But the language in official publications is warlike: “threats,” “control,” “ownership of the river.”
Paradoxically, the Operation River Wall It comes at a time of almost total calm on the southern border. Illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border during fiscal year 2025 that ended Sept. 30 fell sharply to their lowest level since the early 1970s.
The continued tightening of border control is not limited to the river. The Trump Administration announced new sanctions and fees for those who enter without authorization or request temporary residence (parole) for humanitarian reasons. A video released on October 15 by the Mexican Embassy in the United States warns about the application of a fine of $5,000 to those who illegally cross the border. The measure coincides with the entry into force, on October 16, of a fee of 1,000 dollars for beneficiaries of the parole humanitarian. Among many other anti-immigration measures implemented throughout this first year of the second Trump presidency.
The official statement from the Coast Guard specifies that the deployment began on October 9 and covers the counties of Cameron and Hidalgo, in the extreme southeast of the State of Texas, to the mouth of the river. Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, acting commander, said: “The United States Coast Guard is the best in the world in tactical vessel operations and maritime interdiction at sea, our coasts and riverine environments. Operation River Wall“We are controlling the southern border along the Rio Grande in East Texas.”
The operation includes a reinforcement of vessels, guards and tactical teams, and represents a historic deployment of Coast Guard resources. The newsletter also details that authorities will work in coordination with the Border Patrol and the War Department under the United States Northern Command, with the aim of deterring, intercepting and countering irregular immigration, drug trafficking and other threats to national security.
The Río Grande, until a few years ago a symbol of transit, exchange and shared life between border communities, has now become a liquid and guarded border. The militarization of water adds to the tightening of immigration policies and reinforces the message that the US border remains under absolute control.
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