The Trump administration on Monday said it’s temporarily pausing its more than $46 billion border wall project in Big Bend National Park.
The administration made the announcement as Rodney Scott, the head of Customs and Border Protection, was conducting an “on-the-ground evaluation” while visiting Texas, The Associated Press reported.
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“Last night, I put a pause on all activity in that park as far as construction goes till I can get down there and do a personal evaluation, talk to some stakeholders, talk to some local law enforcement in that area,” Scott said in a video posted on X.
The project has received bipartisan opposition from critics who argue the construction would damage the ecosystem and animals inside the national park.
What is the project?
In 2025, Congress approved $46 billion to build a border wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, the administration has waived environmental regulations to accelerate the project.
In June, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote that the administration was waiving “certain laws, regulations, and other legal requirements” to ensure “expeditious construction of barriers and roads” on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Contractors began bulldozing parts of the national park for the project last week, Straight Arrow reported.
CBP originally said it planned to build a 30-foot border wall through the parks but has since backed off. Instead, the agency said the project would include a new road, lights, vehicle barriers and infrastructure like fiber-optic cable, the AP reported.
On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters that Mullin assured him that “they will not be building a wall or a fence in Big Bend National Park.”
Bipartisan criticism in Big Bend
The project has drawn criticism from multiple groups, including the Texas Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. In March, the group issued a statement saying it has “significant concerns” about the border wall, and “the subsequent impacts to our North American heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting.”
“It would block popular hiking trails, and it would permanently scar the beautiful Santa Elena and Boquillas Canyons,” BHA added. “It would close off access to nearly 200 miles of the Rio Grande for American paddlers, river guides, anglers, land stewards, and sightseers — from Big Bend National Park to Amistad National Wildlife Refuge.”
But the project also prompted lawmakers close to Trump to express their concerns. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wrote last week to Mullin, saying Big Bend’s terrain creates its own natural obstacles to those trying to cross the border illegally.
“My constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States,” Cornyn wrote. “The dangerous terrain includes steep mountains, deep canyons, and expansive deserts which they believe act a natural barrier that limits large-scale movements.”
Does the US need a wall in Big Bend?
The Big Bend region contains about 517 miles of the nearly 2,000 miles of the total southern border. Despite this, the area sees few illegal crossings.
In 2023, CBP said the U.S. saw just under 2.5 million total illegal border crossings along the southern border, but the Big Bend region accounted for just over 11,000 of those. That number has also decreased since Trump returned to office. In 2025, the Big Bend area saw just under 3,100 illegal border crossings.
The Trump administration’s border wall project has also received criticism from residents in other areas of the country. In May, people in Arizona complained that the project damaged part of a Native American site that scientists believe is at least 1,000 years old.
Then in June, the Tohono O’odham Nation filed a lawsuit alleging the project would “illegally violate the Nation’s rights as a sovereign tribe.”
The tribe said it has previously approved the construction for on-reservation border vehicle barriers, patrol roads, surveillance towers and Border Patrol operating bases. But tribal leaders made it clear that it would not support border wall construction on their lands.
“We have tried to work with the Department on the border wall issue, but it insists on rushing forward with construction,” Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose said. “We have been left with no other choice but to file suit to protect our land, our culture, and our rights.”
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