Border Wall Construction Begins in Big Bend National Park in Texas
Federal contractors are clearing land and moving heavy equipment, while officials say the $1.7 billion project will add roads, barriers and surveillance.
- Construction crews began clearing land in Big Bend National Park last week for a new Border Patrol road, part of President Donald Trump's administration's broader $46.5 billion initiative to expand border security infrastructure.
- The $1.72 billion project follows the Department of Homeland Security waiving federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, to expedite construction of barriers and roads in the remote region.
- Environmental groups and lawmakers warn the route across Mariscal Mountain necessitates "extensive dynamite blasting" near the Rio Grande, potentially damaging sensitive desert ecosystems and critical habitat for endangered species.
- Local officials, including Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland of Terrell County, question the necessity of new infrastructure, noting the region sees only about 1% of unauthorized crossings and already possesses natural barriers.
- A bipartisan group of House Democrats has demanded the administration suspend work until releasing detailed engineering plans, while protesters gathered by Santa Elena Canyon to protect what many call the park's "crown jewels.
161 Articles
161 Articles
Border wall work pauses inside Big Bend
The Trump administration temporarily paused border wall construction at Big Bend National Park in Texas while U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott visits the site, Scott announced Monday.Why it matters: The wall's construction inside the national park has been the subject of bipartisan pushback and criticism that the job has been rushed, and is damaging to the environment.What they're saying: "Last night, I put a pause on…
Trump admin caves on 'insane' bulldozing of Big Bend National Park
The Trump administration has halted bulldozing inside Big Bend National Park after a wave of bipartisan opposition over construction in one of Texas's most celebrated wilderness areas.CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott announced the pause Monday, saying he had flown to Texas to conduct a personal evaluat...
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Trump administration pauses contentious border construction in Texas’ Big Bend National Park
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an “on-the...
Trump’s border wall push is back — and it’s destroying national parks and 200-year-old trees
A bulldozer plows through land during construction for a section of border wall near Santa Elena Canyon on August 14, 2026 in Big Bend National Park, Texas. | Photo: Brandon Bell via Getty Images About 22 miles south of the former mining town of Patagonia, Arizona, down a winding, unpaved mountain road that passes cows grazing on open range, stands a cottonwood tree believed to be at least 200 years old. The "grandmother" tree, as some locals c…
Trump is trashing a national treasure for donors —and Texans can't stop it
On August 6, a date that’s been called ‘a day of infamy,’ construction began on Trump’s border wall through Big Bend National Park. Under a $1.7 billion federal contract strongly opposed by Texas locals regardless of party affiliation, Southwest Valley started bulldozing for profit at 8 a.m., razing habitats of threatened species and destroying native vegetation. Running along parts of the Rio Grande, the project threatens mountain lions, black …
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