Confused about Big Bend area border plans? Here’s what you need to know.

From Marfa Public Radio:

Since news first surfaced late last year that the Trump administration was planning to build new border barriers across the Big Bend region, there’s been a lot of confusion about what exactly is planned and where it would be built.

Marfa Public Radio has been closely following developments in the story for months.

Here’s a rundown of what federal border agencies say they’re planning, and where things stand for now.

This story was originally published in May and was updated on Aug. 19, 2026.

Will there be a border wall anywhere in the Big Bend region?

Yes, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s latest plans.

Physical barriers, in the form of 30-foot-tall steel bollard walls, are planned for a 175-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties.

This plan is broken up into three border wall projects:

• Big Bend 1 — From Sierra Blanca, TX to near the Hudspeth-Jeff Davis County line

• Big Bend 2  — From Ruidosa, TX to near the Madera Canyon Campgrounds in Big Bend Ranch State Park

• Big Bend 3  — From the Hudspeth-Jeff Davis County line to Ruidosa, TX

Federal contracts were awarded in March for each of the three projects.

A $1 billion contract for Big Bend 1 was awarded to Barnard Construction. A $1.2 billion contract for Big Bend 2 was awarded to Fisher Sand and Gravel, and a $960.4 million for Big Bend 3 was also awarded to Barnard Construction.

CBP has offered various timelines for these three wall projects, but earlier this year, the agency said that the timeline for completion is sometime in 2027.

Landowners along this stretch first began receiving letters in February from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency handling real estate acquisition for CBP.

In April, a $4.4 million federal contract was also awarded to Tierra Right of Way Services for “BB-3 Border Barrier Project Construction Monitoring Services.” CBP told Marfa Public Radio the award is for “environmental and cultural monitors” for that stretch of wall.

Will there be a border wall in Big Bend National Park?

No, at least not according to CBP’s latest plans.

CBP has stated repeatedly since May that it is not planning a 30-foot-tall border wall in the national park.

Still, the park is set to receive a combination of vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and patrol roads, according to CBP.

According to CBP, the national park plan calls for about 17 miles of 4 to 6-foot-tall steel vehicle barriers, about 200 miles of new or improved “patrol roads” and related infrastructure like surveillance cameras, utility poles and fiber optic and power cables.

This plan is outlined under one project:

• Big Bend 4 — From near the Madera Canyon Campgrounds in Big Bend Ranch State Park, along the Rio Grande across much of the national park, to the “Lower Canyons” of the Rio Grande east of the national park

DHS has awarded a $1.7 billion contract for the national park project to an Albuquerque construction firm called Southwest Valley Constructors.

Though a federal government spending website once showed the Big Bend 4 contract award as being for “a border wall in Big Bend, Texas,” CBP has repeatedly denied that the contract is for a physical wall.

Still, anti-wall advocates have expressed skepticism that a border wall in the national park, which was previously on the table, is truly not happening.

What other projects are planned for the region?

To the east of Big Bend National Park, CBP is planning to install a lengthy stretch of 4 to 6-foot-tall border vehicle barriers.

This plan is outlined under one project:

• Big Bend 5 – From east of the national park through Brewter, Terrell and Val Verde counties, ending near Del Rio at the Amistad Reservoir and Amistad National Recreation Area.

The agency says this plan entails about 157 miles of “non-contiguous border barrier system” that would include “a physical barrier, road, and barrier system attributes.”

In June, Fisher Sand and Gravel was awarded a $2.6 billion contract for this project.

Could the border wall plans for the Big Bend region still change?

Yes.

Throughout this year, CBP’s project details have changed multiple times. This has happened without any formal announcements, press releases or social media posts from the agency.

The changes have often only been noticed thanks to local residents, advocates and news outlets who have been paying close attention to the agency’s “Smart Wall” map — which even disappeared for several weeks from CBP’s website.

Where does construction stand on all these projects?

Federal contractors have been proceeding with early construction activities on border projects across the Big Bend region.

In early August, construction crews began clearing land and vegetation and grading existing dirt roads in Big Bend National Park. That work was recently paused by CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott amid bipartisan pushback.

As for the 30-foot-tall border wall project in the greater Big Bend region, CBP said that “early construction activities” had begun in early August and that wall panels would begin being installed “in the coming weeks.”

Across the Big Bend region, contractors have established or are still developing various equipment staging sites and “man camp” workforce housing facilities. Steel bollards for the 30-foot wall began arriving at a staging site in Jeff Davis County – near Chispa Road – this summer.

How are people reacting to all this?

CBP’s plans for border wall building in the remote Big Bend region have sparked widespread bipartisan opposition in recent months.

Five border county sheriffs spoke out against the plans and more than 2,000 people showed up at the Texas Capitol to protest the Big Bend border wall in April. Protesters have also demonstrated inside Big Bend National Park and in nearby communities like Terlingua and Alpine.

Former superintendents of Big Bend National Park have also forcefully spoken out against the plan, at one point telling Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that even new vehicle barriers and roads would be “highly destructive.”

Even some Texas Republicans, including outgoing U.S. Senator John Cornyn, have raised concerns.

Gov. Greg Abbott remained mostly silent on the matter for months, declining to either directly support or oppose any specific Big Bend area border projects. The governor weighed in a bit more on Aug. 17 after the pause in the national park, saying he had spoken to Secretary Mullin.

“They understand that there are other tools to successfully secure that park through technology, through personnel, and other means, and also understand that when it comes to building walls, there are other border areas in the state where there are more crossings, where a wall is more needed right now than in places like Big Bend,” Abbot said during remarks to reporters.

How the wall will impact wildlife, the region’s dark skies, the tourism-based economy and flooding along the river corridor are among the many concerns raised by residents.

Does the Big Bend region need a border wall?

This is, of course, at the heart of the debate over the administration’s plans.

The Border Patrol’s “Big Bend Sector” – which stretches across 517 miles – has historically been one of the least-trafficked areas of the southwestern border.

Apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally in the Big Bend Sector fell by 74% from 2023 to 2025, and apprehensions in the region accounted for just 1.3% of all apprehensions along the southwestern border in 2025, according to CBP data. Autonomous surveillance towers have also cut down on traffic significantly, according to the agency. Local sheriffs have said they believe technology can be used to patrol the region’s border “without the need for extensive permanent infrastructure.”

Still, President Donald Trump has long sought to build a physical wall across the entire U.S.-Mexico border since his first term in office. On the first day of his second term in January 2025, he signed an executive order directing the Defense and Homeland Security secretaries to “take all appropriate action to deploy and construct temporary and permanent physical barriers to ensure complete operational control of the southern border.” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, approved by Congress in July 2025, included $46.5 billion for border wall construction.

Trump administration lawyers have said the government’s goal is zero illegal crossings. 

Is anyone suing over this?

Yes. Multiple federal lawsuits have been filed against the border barrier plans across the Big Bend region.

The lawsuits each target different aspects or specific projects of the region-wide border plans, but they collectively amount to an effort to block construction of border barriers and related infrastructure in the region.

Among the plaintiffs who have sued are the Friends of the Ruidosa Church, the Presidio Municipal Development District, The People of La Junta for Preservation and the Center for Biological Diversity.

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