Trump administration pushes on with construction of controversial Big Bend border wall

The Trump administration is pressing forward with construction on the controversial border wall in the Big Bend region of west Texas, even as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) faces furious backlash from local leaders and landowners for its fast-moving plans.Construction began this week in Hudspeth county, which lies just east of the city of El Paso. CBP has been pressing landowners there to grant permission to allow the agency to erect a 30ft steel bollard border wall in that area, offering them signing bonuses as an incentive to avoid eminent domain disputes.CBP did not announce the construction ahead of time, but a spokesperson confirmed by email that installation of the first “panels” in Hudspeth county started on 15 September. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.A panel refers to a section of steel bollard fencing. Images of the construction obtained by the No Big Bend Wall coalition show a towering fence standing in isolation, that anyone could easily walk around on either side.Isolated fencing is likely to remain the norm in much of the area if construction proceeds, said Clara Bensen, the communications director for No Big Bend Wall. Her group estimates that some 400 landowners hold title to properties with Rio Grande frontage where CBP is trying to obtain rights to construct more wall. More than half of those landowners, however, have joined the coalition, and aim to dispute the federal government’s assertion of eminent domain.Those disputes have left the federal government with an uneven patchwork of permissions, leaving CBP unable for the moment to complete work on a contiguous wall.“It’s not about logic,” Bensen said. “They’re moving forward even if the plan is not fully baked, then trying to do busy work because they don’t have the land they need yet.”“They’re just grasping on to whatever little plots of land they’ve managed to get so far,” she added.Republicans in Congress added a whopping $46.5bn for border wall expansion into the so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill last year.Armed with that massive war chest, CBP has barreled forward with unpopular plans to expand its so-called “smart wall” – a mix of 30ft fencing, vehicle barriers, patrol roads and detection sensors – into the remote Big Bend region. The area has remained unwalled until now largely because its towering cliffs, desert geography and lack of towns and cities on the Mexican side already act as natural impediments to unlawful migration.The roughly 500-mile (800km) stretch that CBP refers to as the “Big Bend” region has historically accounted for less than 2% of apprehensions for illegal crossings. Unauthorized crossing there has plummeted still further since Trump returned to office and imposed a major crackdown on the border.CBP’s plans for west Texas beyond Hudspeth county currently include erecting vehicle barrier and other security infrastructure in Big Bend national park, widely viewed as the state’s most beloved wilderness.The possibility of construction at the park, however, has sparked major protests and drawn increasingly bipartisan criticism from Texas lawmakers. Rodney Scott, the CBP commissioner, temporarily paused construction last month, after images of bulldozers clearly brush for new road construction sparked a furious backlash from public land lovers across the country.Bob Krumenaker, a former Big Bend national park superintendent who now chairs an advocacy group called Keep Big Bend Wild, said he and other supporters planned to travel to Washington DC next week to urge lawmakers to shield the park from damage and the unpopular border security infrastructure.“I’m very optimistic that there is a lot of support for Big Bend,” Krumenaker said. “This is a nonpartisan issue.”But while the park has drawn the most attention, CBP’s plans to expand its smart wall would have massive and sprawling effects across the Big Bend region. Private landowners are concerned about the eyesore tanking their property values, obstructing their access to the river, or disrupting their grazing operations.The border barrier expansion would also mar Big Bend Ranch state park, Black Gap wildlife management area and Amistad national recreation area. Blasting from construction threatens to damage or destroy dozens of millennia-old rock art murals that dot the river valley.“It’s all connected,” Bensen said. “It’s all part of the river.”