Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published November 1, 2026
Mexico’s government has issued a statement condemning Texas’s claim to nine islands in the Rio Grande, escalating a border dispute over land that Texas officials say drug cartels could use to move drugs and migrants.
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) announced that the nine islands, covering about 66 acres, belong to the state. Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said the determination lets state law enforcement patrol, inspect and clear the islands of illegal activity.
They are spread along the river from the Laredo area south toward McAllen.
Buckingham said the move takes the islands “off the map” for possible cartel use. The GLO has not confirmed criminal activity on these nine islands, but Buckingham pointed to past cases of cartels and smugglers exploiting border islands.
The nine were part of a larger group of islands whose ownership had not been established. U.S. Customs and Border Protection had raised questions about 28 islands, and the GLO identified nine as Texas land. Buckingham said Mexican officials pushed back strongly after the claim.
The dispute follows earlier Texas actions along the river. The state designated Fronton Island as Texas land in 2023, and Buckingham has since asked the Trump administration for help securing two other islands she called “cartel-infested.”
Mexico has objected to Texas border measures before. In 2023 it argued that work on the river, including clearing islands and the channel, should be endorsed by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which handles border and water matters between the two countries.
