Body found in Rio Grande anti-migrant buoys, Mexico says

The Mexican government said Wednesday that a dead body had been found caught in the controversial floating barriers installed by Texas authorities to stop migrants crossing into the United States.

US authorities informed Mexico that "they found the body of a lifeless person stuck in the southern part of the buoys" on the Rio Grande river, the Mexican foreign ministry said in a statement.

The cause of death and nationality of the victim were unknown, it added.

The ministry expressed "concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants that these state policies will have."

The buoys were installed in the river at a popular migrant crossing point in July on the instructions of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, along with large razor-wire barriers on shore.

In response, the US Justice Department has filed a lawsuit in a federal court, saying the buoys illegally obstruct river navigation and lack federal authorization.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that the barriers violate his country's sovereignty.

Hundreds of migrants die each year along the US-Mexico border, mostly while trying to cross the Rio Grande.

© Agence France-Presse