General Land Office IDs islands along Rio Grande River that belong to Texas

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The Texas General Land Office is continuing to take action to secure the Texas border.

Under Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the office has identified nine islands, totaling roughly 66 acres, as property belonging to the state of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.

The islands haven’t previously been officially established as Texas land.

The region is where Coast Guard crew were fired upon by cartels and where cartel infighting has occurred over the years, The Center Square reported.

Hundreds of National Guard troops are deployed to the area as Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, is ongoing.

The GLO surveilled 28 islands along the Texas-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley in response to a request by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The islands were previously considered unclaimed or whose ownership (the United States, Texas or Mexico) had not been established.

The GLO reviewed historical records, surveys, aerial photography and other relevant information to determine that at least nine of the islands are owned by the state of Texas. The international boundary is governed by treaties between the U.S. and Mexico, including the Rio Grande River’s channel.

“The determination of these islands by the GLO resolves any uncertainty pertaining to jurisdiction and ensures these strategically located lands can be appropriately accessed, monitored, and protected by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department,” the GLO said.

Buckingham told The Center Square, “The Texas General Land Office is making Texas bigger – and we will defend every square inch of it. Our GLO surveying team identified these nine border islands as Texas land, and we will never allow them to become a foothold for cartels, smugglers, or human traffickers.”

The nine islands are located on the Texas side of the Rio Grande River stretching from Laredo to McAllen. The GLO named the islands and their general vicinity. They include Nixon and La Bota islands near Laredo, Tex Mex Island 2 near Roma, McKendricks and Lost Boot islands near Rio Grand City, Clark Island near Reynosa and Zachary, Miller and Miller 2 islands near McAllen, according to a map shared by the GLO.

“For years, the ownership of these islands has been uncertain, limiting the ability to ensure they are properly monitored and protected,” Buckingham said. “Now that the GLO has confirmed these nine islands belong to the state of Texas, we are notifying our law enforcement partners so that they can gain access to these state-owned properties to patrol, inspect and clear them of any illegal activity they may encounter, consistent with the law.”

Buckingham also informed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the TMD of the designation and offered to coordinate border security logistics.

“This effort builds on the GLO’s work to establish ownership of Rio Grande islands and ensure law enforcement can access state-owned property,” Buckingham said. The GLO hasn’t confirmed criminal activity on the islands but “past experience has shown how border islands can be exploited by cartels and smugglers,” she added.

Eleven other islands are still being surveyed by the GLO. Their ownership has not yet been identified.

Under Buckingham, ownership of Texas land has expanded and border security has been prioritized.

In 2023, Buckingham declared Fronton Island, a 170-acre island in Starr County, state land, The Center Square reported. After the declaration, OLS officerscleared the islandto disrupt criminal activity.

Gunfire can often be heard in the Texas border towns of Fronton and Roma. Warring Mexican cartels have been fighting for control of the region for years over smuggling routes leading through the Mexican border towns of Los Guerra (across from Fronton) and Miguel Aleman (across from Roma), to eventually cross the Rio Grande River into Texas, The Center Square reported.

In 2024, the GLO acquired a 1,402-acre ranch along the Rio Grande River at Starr County’s border with Mexico to build a border wall. Buckingham offered the land to the Trump administration to build a border wall in late 2024 and offered state land to expedite deportations. By January 2025, 1.5 miles of border wall paneling had been erected on the property, the GLO says.

Last fall, the GLO also worked with federal and state law enforcement to identify high-risk areas for potential tunnel construction and to strengthen security measures on GLO-managed lands in remote areas in far west Texas, The Center Square reported.

Buckingham, the first female commissioner of the GLO, and a former state senator, told The Center Square she “will continue using every tool at my disposal to fortify our southern border, protect Texas soil, and keep our communities safe.”