Big Bend National Park’s border wall project has hit a standstill. The hEAD of Customs and Border Protection announced Monday that he’s hitting pause on all building work inside the Texas park while he checks things out personally.
Rodney Scott, CBP’s chief, said in a social media post that he’s traveling to the site to see the situation firsthand. This move follows the release of footage earlier this month showing bulldozers carving through the 800,000-acre Chihuahuan Desert preserve. Notably, the Trump administration never publicly announced this work and, per The Guardian, first denied it was happening at all.
The construction falls under a broader “smart wall” initiative that Congress bankrolled with $46.5 billion, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025. That funding covers expansion efforts across the border, including this stretch of Big Bend.
Environmental advocates have sounded alarms since the bulldozer videos surfaced. Laiken Jordahl, who advocates for public lands at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the agency is pushing a new road through what he called the most cherished section of the park.
Political pressure is also mounting. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who’s on his way out of office, has written to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding a halt. In his letter, Cornyn pointed out that locals see the park’s steep 1,000-foot river bluffs and rugged landscape as natural barriers that already discourage unauthorized crossings.
Scott indicated the agency still aims to complete the first wall segment by the end of next year. The source account doesn’t say how long the pause might last or what it means for the project’s long-term outlook.