Overview
- CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott ordered a temporary halt to all construction in Big Bend after news footage and drone images, published Monday, showed federal contractors using heavy machinery inside the park.
- A lawsuit filed on Aug. 14 by El Pueblo de La Junta and Far Flung Outdoor Center says CBP awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel and describes plans for about 62 miles of a primary wall plus deep excavations and extensive earth-moving.
- The Department of Homeland Security has said the contractors were conducting surveying and design work, while CBP says Scott will meet local stakeholders on site before any decision on next steps.
- Local elected officials, Indigenous leaders and conservation groups say the work risks irreversible harm to fragile ecosystems, wildlife corridors and archaeological and religious sites, and some Republicans in the region have voiced similar objections.
- The pause comes against a broader push by the administration to fast-track border infrastructure using roughly $46 billion in congressional funding and regulatory waivers, and it is unclear whether the suspension will be extended or prompt major changes to Big Bend plans.