Mexico Rejects Texas Claim to 9 Rio Grande Islands

Texas wants nine Rio Grande islands, about 66 acres, mostly in Starr County, so law enforcement can patrol them and stop cartel activity, says Land Office Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. Breitbart reports the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction have moved drugs north through them. Mexico's Foreign Relations Ministry condemned the claim, saying Texas can't set borders and a 1970 binational treaty governs the line. Back home, the first thing anybody asks about a creek is whose side the cows are standing on. A rancher doesn't wait on a treaty to fix a busted gate, and Texas shouldn't have to wait on Washington to guard its own riverbank. Mexico says it will pursue the matter and respect the treaties, which is what a neighbor says right before he moves the fence.