As we got closer to Del Rio, the hills gave way to flat, sparsely vegetated land with long vistas to the horizon. We passed an ICE checkpoint.
Del Rio is in Val Verde County and borders Mexico and the Rio Grande. It’s a fairly large city of over 30,000. We drove along the river via Vega Verde Street. The miles of riverfront are lined on the US side by houses in various states of repair. Some are new, others are obviously long-abandoned.
Directly across the street from the riverfront homes is a long section of chainlink fencing with razor wire on top. Some sections of the fence are complete, while other sections are still under construction.
At one point along the street adjacent to an empty lot we saw a man sitting in the grass along the roadside in front of a parked DPS cruiser. Further along the fence was an open area where we saw several parked DPS cruisers with officers talking to a few individuals. Governor Abbott has sent thousands of DPS troopers here and to the Valley to help with the increase in illegal border crossings and to help allay the concerns of residents living on isolated ranches.