Overview
- CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott announced on Monday a pause of all construction inside Big Bend National Park and said he will visit the site for a personal, on-the-ground evaluation.
- Journalists and residents documented bulldozers and heavy machinery earlier in August near Santa Elena Canyon that had been clearing land for patrol roads and vehicle barriers.
- CBP says it is not building a 30-foot bollard wall inside the park and that the work involves one new access road, upgrades to existing roads, detection technology and limited vehicle barriers.
- The Department of Homeland Security used broad waivers of environmental and historic-preservation laws to speed the project and several lawsuits now allege harm to wildlife, archaeological sites and Indigenous religious practices.
- The Big Bend buildout is part of a multibillion-dollar border program funded from recent congressional appropriations, local officials and business owners have mobilized bipartisan opposition, and it is unclear how long the pause will last as legal and political challenges continue.