Federal authorities have rolled onto an island in the middle of the Rio Grande near Roma in Starr County, taking physical control of a long-disputed strip of river sandbars locals know as Fronton Island. Fresh federal signs and fencing now dot the landscape, signaling a new chapter in a years-long tug-of-war between Texas officials who fortified the island and federal agencies asserting their own jurisdiction.
According to Spectrum News, federal personnel moved in on April 17, posting signage and formally claiming control of the mid-river land. Photos published by Spectrum News 1 show the newly planted notices staked into the sand.
The move comes on the heels of a Department of the Air Force decision earlier this year to expand National Defense Areas along the Rio Grande. Under that plan, land previously managed by the International Boundary and Water Commission is being shifted to the Air Force for administration as part of Joint Base San Antonio. Air Force Public Affairs has said the NDAs give Joint Task Force–Southern Border and USNORTHCOM support authorities to post signage, set up temporary barriers and run mobile patrols in those designated areas.
Texas leaders, meanwhile, have treated Fronton Island as their own border stronghold. In 2023 the Texas General Land Office declared the roughly 170-acre island to be state land and teamed up with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department to clear vegetation and fortify the site, according to a press release from the agency. The Texas General Land Office cast that effort as a way to deny the area to cartel smuggling operations.
The International Boundary and Water Commission has not bought that ownership claim. As KRGV reported in 2024, the U.S. section of the IBWC sent a 19-page letter asserting that Fronton Island is federal property and asking Texas to produce documents backing up its claim. That paperwork exchange, which KRGV published along with the Texas GLO’s response, set the stage for the current showdown between state-built fortifications and federal declarations.
None of this has gone over quietly with conservationists and people who live nearby. Environmental advocates and residents have objected to the clearing and fencing, warning that stripping vegetation and reshaping the island could damage habitat and alter the river’s floodplain. In March, Inside Climate News documented contractor crews, concertina wire and local complaints, and noted broader federal plans for barriers and buoys in the Rio Grande Valley.
What This Means Legally
The Air Force’s National Defense Area designation gives federal officials an operational foothold and authority to manage installations on the transferred land, including signs and temporary barriers, according to Air Force Public Affairs. At the same time, the IBWC’s letter and the Texas GLO’s public declaration that “The Texas General Land Office has no intention of backing down from claiming ownership on behalf of the state of Texas” suggest this is not a dispute that will fade with a few posted notices.
In practical terms, Fronton Island has become a guarded flashpoint in the river. Federal signs and fencing are now in place, and both sides have some legal and operational leverage. Expect dueling statements from agencies and the possibility of court filings as state and federal officials try to sort out who truly controls this contested slice of the Rio Grande.
