Opposition mounts to border wall construction in Big Bend National Park
Towering steel barriers could soon cut across one of Texas' most remote and iconic landscapes.
Until recently, CBP's public map labeled the entire 800,000-acre national park as a "technology only" zone, signaling surveillance rather than physical barriers. In mid-February, the agency updated its interactive map to show a 111- to 112-mile segment titled "Big Bend 4," now classified as a "primary border wall system" along much of the Rio Grande inside the park.
The proposed route runs from near Santa Elena Canyon east toward Mariscal Canyon, crossing long stretches of riverfront and passing near the Rio Grande Village campground and the Boquillas border crossing. The deepest canyon corridors are currently excluded from physical wall construction but would still fall under expanded surveillance.
A CBP spokesperson told Inside Climate News that Big Bend National Park is now included in the scope of the Smart Wall plan. Contracts could be awarded in the coming weeks and months, with construction potentially lasting several years.
North of the park, another roughly 175-mile stretch of the Rio Grande—from Fort Quitman in Hudspeth County to Colorado Canyon in Big Bend Ranch State Park—has also been identified as part of a separate Smart Wall project.
On its website, CBP describes the Smart Wall as "comprised of a steel bollard wall or waterborne barrier, along with roads, detection technology, cameras and lighting and in some cases a secondary wall – creating an enforcement zone."
To speed construction, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently signed waivers for 28 federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, clearing the way for segments from Fort Quitman through parts of Big Bend Ranch State Park.
The National Parks Conservation Association is pushing back. "Building a border wall through Big Bend National Park would choke off vital wildlife migration routes, intensify flooding risks and inflict irreparable damage to one of our country’s most iconic national parks," the group said in a statement.
The Rio Grande forms the southern boundary of Big Bend National Park for 118 miles, separating the United States from Mexico. In Big Bend Ranch State Park, the river similarly marks the international boundary, carving steep canyons through the desert.
Dividing the landscape with a wall "would force residents and resource stewards to manage one side of the river at a time," the NPCA said. "Wildlife and communities on both sides of the wall would suffer, and nobody would be the winner here."
The group argues the region's harsh terrain already acts as a natural barrier and says surveillance technology would have less impact than a physical wall. "Customs and Border Protection already maintains a presence in Big Bend," the NPCA said. "Building a wall here makes no logistical sense and only serves to harm the region’s wild scenery and thriving community-based tourism economy."
Big Bend National Park draws more than half a million visitors annually and generated more than $60 million in visitor spending in 2024, according to National Park Service data.
The Big Bend region has operated under heightened federal security over the past year, with troops deployed across parts of West Texas and ongoing coordination between park officials and Border Patrol. Even so, statistics show unlawful crossings have fallen sharply in recent months, including within the Big Bend Sector.
Attempts to extend a border wall through Big Bend have surfaced before. During Trump's first term, internal Department of Homeland Security plans envisioned a wall reaching the park, but legal challenges, funding issues and engineering concerns stalled the effort. At the time, then-DHS Secretary John Kelly acknowledged there were places, including Big Bend, where the terrain made wall construction unlikely.
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