The U.S. Border Patrol said Monday that Big Bend Ranch State Park may be spared from border wall construction. The news came after federal authorities briefed Big Bend area officials on border wall plans in recent days.

The industrial-grade buoys, already being installed in Brownsville, Texas, are meant to prevent unauthorized crossings. But experts warn the buoys could intensify flooding and change the river’s course.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, 41, died March 14 in a Dallas hospital, the day after ICE arrested him outside his home. He was the 24th person to die in ICE custody since last October.

Advocates are rushing to help landowners with legal aid in sparsely populated rural areas along the Rio Grande in the path of the border wall. The federal government's efforts to contact landowners about the project has hit a snag due to complicated land ownership.