Overview
- Local organizing in the Big Bend sector led planners to cut mapped steel barriers to roughly 175 miles, an almost 400‑mile reduction from earlier plans.
- Customs and Border Protection says areas next to Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park remain in planning as it prioritizes stretches with more crossings.
- Army Corps letters to landowners about access and waivers of environmental reviews keep construction possible, with survey teams expected in mid‑April and ground work planned for June.
- Five border county sheriffs and county leaders urged a technology‑driven, terrain‑informed approach, and CBP told them after March meetings it would remove an additional 5.6 miles from the map.
- Since October, Big Bend has recorded 892 encounters out of about 34,480 across the southern border, and residents cite the harsh terrain and risks to watersheds, wildlife, dark skies, and property values to argue against new steel walls.