Federal contractors started bulldozing inside Big Bend National Park on August 6, clearing vegetation and grading roads near Santa Elena Canyon as part of a $1.7 billion project funded by the "One Big Beautiful Bill." To do it, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin waived 28 to 31 federal laws. Among them: the Antiquities Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott paused all construction on August 17 for an on-site review, and Gov. Greg Abbott says Mullin committed to him that no wall or fence will go inside the park. At least four lawsuits are pending to stop the project permanently. The coalition pushing back spans the Lipan Apache community, conservation groups, Republican senators, and the county sheriff. The sheriff is a former Border Patrol agent.

1. This Is Sacred Territory — and the Park Already Stops Most Crossings (People of La Junta for Preservation, Former Big Bend Superintendents, Center for Biological Diversity)

Construction is destroying Apache ceremonial land and a stretch of border that's already, by every measure, the quietest in the country.

Bulldozers are tearing through sacred Apache land right now. Christina Hernandez, director of People of La Junta for Preservation and a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, sued DHS in August. She uses the Rio Grande for ceremonies her community is reintroducing. She also harvests willows and cattail pollen from its banks as sacred plant material. "We are fighting the wall in court because our ancestors did not survive on this land for thousands of years for us to stand by and wait for someone else to come save it," she said. Her organization owns the Polvo site in Redford, an ancient property with a 16th-century Spanish mission foundation and a State Archaeological Landmark. A planned wall would cut directly through it. Archaeologist Sam Cason estimates roughly 1,370 undiscovered archaeological sites along the full construction corridor.

This sector handles roughly 1% of illegal border crossings. Seven former park superintendents wrote to DHS that the park "already has, by far, the lowest level of illegal activity of the entire border" because of its "rugged terrain, natural barriers, isolation, and distance from highways." One of them, former superintendent Bob Krumenaker — who ran Big Bend through 2023 and now chairs Keep Big Bend Wild — called the construction "the most egregious assault on the integrity of the entire National Park System since Hetch Hetchy." The Center for Biological Diversity says DHS has never waived environmental protections this broadly inside a national park.

2. But Even Border Patrol Veterans Say It's a Boondoggle (Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, Sen. John Cornyn, Gov. Greg Abbott, 140+ Texas Businesses)

Texas Republicans who back border security say this project targets terrain where barriers can't work, and that the money should go elsewhere on the border.

$2.6 billion for vehicle barriers where vehicles can't reach is a waste. Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, a Republican and former U.S. Border Patrol agent, posted in July that DHS is spending that sum on vehicle barriers "where vehicles can't drive across the Rio Grande." He called the plan "a boondoggle." He met with Commissioner Scott during Scott's August 18 on-site visit. Cleveland argues that the steep canyon walls and mountain terrain are "God-made barriers" and that surveillance technology and road improvements would accomplish more: "Hopefully, they will really take into consideration...the lay of the land there, rather than just somebody looking at a map and saying, 'Hey, this looks possible.'" Former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson put it plainly: "I have found no one, Republican or Democrat, who wants a wall in the Big Bend."

Texas's own Republican establishment says this is the wrong call. Sen. John Cornyn wrote to Secretary Mullin in August asking him to meet with stakeholders before proceeding. Cornyn cited the "1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain" that already deter crossings. Gov. Abbott said afterward that Mullin committed to him personally that "they will not be building a wall or a fence in Big Bend National Park" and that "there are other border areas in the state where there are more crossings, where a wall is more needed." More than 140 Texas businesses had already signed a letter urging both Texas senators and the governor to halt the barriers. They warned the project would "put river outfitters out of business and devastate the regional economy."

3. Still, the Administration Points to Real Smuggling Numbers (DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott)

DHS says Big Bend is an active drug corridor, courts have upheld its authority to build, and the $1.7 billion contract is still in force.

This sector has logged 89,000 arrests since 2021. Secretary Mullin declared Big Bend "a place of high illegal entry" where "illegal aliens regularly attempt to enter the United States and smuggle illicit drugs." His office cites those apprehensions along with tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine that agents seized in the sector between 2021 and 2025. Federal courts have ruled in DHS's favor on its authority to waive environmental laws and proceed with construction.

The administration says it isn't building a wall. Commissioner Scott's official statement describes the project as "one new access road, improved existing roads, detection technology, and vehicle barriers in limited, strategic locations." It specifically denies plans for a 30-foot steel wall or stadium lighting inside the park. On the work done so far: "What people are seeing right now is survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall through the park." House Speaker Mike Johnson offered his own framing: "When we say build a wall in some respects, it's a metaphor."

Where This Lands

CBP has paused construction — but not canceled it, and the $1.7 billion contract remains in force. The Lipan Apache community and conservation groups are pressing at least four federal lawsuits to make the halt permanent. The bipartisan local coalition — from Republican senators and sheriffs to river outfitters — says spending money on barriers in terrain where vehicles can't cross is a mistake. The administration hasn't said what comes next. DHS has not confirmed Gov. Abbott's account of Mullin's commitment.

Sources