Border Construction Paused in Big Bend National Park Amid Bipartisan Pushback

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott announced a temporary halt to all construction activity inside Big Bend National Park in Texas. The pause follows weeks of heavy-machinery work that cleared land for patrol roads, vehicle barriers and other border-security infrastructure.

El Pais

The project is part of the administration’s effort to improve security in the “Big Bend sector,” a 517-mile stretch of the U.S.–Mexico border that includes Big Bend National Park (801,163 acres) and Big Bend Ranch State Park. Congress approved $46.5 billion for border-wall construction in the spending bill signed on July 4 2025. The Big Bend portion is slated to cost over $7 billion, covering steel bollard walls west of the park, patrol roads, and vehicle barriers inside the park.

El PaisCNNCNN

• Visitor traffic: 561,000 people visited the park in 2024; more than half a million in 2025.

Texas Tribune

• Border apprehensions: CBP recorded 3,096 migrant encounters in the Big Bend sector in fiscal year 2025, 1.3 % of total border apprehensions.

Texas Tribune

• Environmental waivers: DHS waived dozens of statutes—including the Endangered Species Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act—to accelerate construction.

Democracy Now

CBP says the work in the park is limited to “survey and design” for an access road and vehicle barriers, not a traditional wall. Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham issued a cease-and-desist letter after contractors cleared roughly a mile of state land, stating that “Texas sovereignty will not be infringed upon by failure to follow established protocol.”

CNN

Environmental groups and local stakeholders argue the project threatens fragile desert ecosystems, archaeological sites and tourism. Laiken Jordahl, advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that bulldozers have caused “permanent damage” to the park’s landscape.

Democracy Now

Republican Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland (Terrell County) and other bipartisan sheriffs have opposed physical barriers, emphasizing that the “God-made barriers” of cliffs and canyons already deter illegal crossings.

The Hill

• Extent of cleared land: Residents estimate at least four miles have been cleared; CBP has not verified that figure.

Texas Tribune

• Definition of “construction”: CBP calls the activity “survey and design work,” while opponents label it “construction.”

ConstructionDive

• Duration of the pause: Scott’s announcement did not specify how long the halt will last, and no revised timeline has been released.

Democracy Now

• “CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” — Rodney Scott

PBS News Hour

• “Their heavy equipment has torn through miles of priceless wild landscape, wreaking havoc on sensitive wildlife and irreplaceable habitat.” — NPCA president and CEO

ConstructionDive

• “Texas sovereignty will not be infringed upon by failure to follow established protocol,” — Dawn Buckingham

CNN

• “I was told by the secretary that there would be no construction of any type of barrier in Big Bend National Park,” — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas Tribune

• “This temporary pause proves how much non-partisan public pressure is mounting in West Texas and across America to stop the irreversible destruction unfolding in this crown jewel national park,” — Laiken Jordahl

Texas Tribune

• “My constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States,” — Sen. John Cornyn

The Spokesman-Review