Bulldozers have begun clearing ground at the mouth of Big Bend National Park's Santa Elena Canyon as part of a border infrastructure push tied to the $46.5bn wall expansion Congress funded last year. Activists filmed the machinery near the canyon's 1,500ft cliffs, a stretch of the Rio Grande popular with visitors, prompting CBP to first deny, then partially confirm, that construction-related work was underway.
The plan, after CBP walked back an earlier proposal for a 30ft steel wall, now calls for roughly 200 miles of new patrol roads and 17 miles of vehicle barriers, built after DHS waived dozens of environmental and cultural protection laws. Unlawful crossings in the park numbered only 100 to 125 arrests annually in 2023 and 2024, according to the park's former superintendent, and have likely dropped further since.
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott says the bulldozers are doing 'survey and design work,' not construction, and that barriers are needed to keep the park 'free from fear of cartel activity.' Opponents, including the Center for Biological Diversity and a river guide, are suing DHS over the legal waivers, while prominent Texas Republicans have mostly declined to comment.
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