Confused about Big Bend area border wall plans? Here’s where things stand.

From Marfa Public Radio:

Since news first surfaced late last year that border walls could be built for the first time in the Big Bend region of West Texas, the story has been marked by shifting, unannounced changes to the plan and few clearly communicated details from the Trump administration.

Marfa Public Radio has been closely following developments in the story over the past few months.

Here’s where things stand.

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-high 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.

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

CBP also said that the timeline for completion for these three projects is sometime in 2027.

Landowners along this stretch first began receiving letters from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the agency handling real estate acquisition for CBP, in February. The public comment period for this section, which was extended several times, was set to close Friday, May 22.

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

No, according to CBP’s latest plans.

CBP told Marfa Public Radio this week that it is not planning a 30-foot-high border wall in the national park.

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

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

Last week, DHS awarded a $1.7 billion contract for the national park project to an Albuquerque construction firm.

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

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 are the latest details on the work in the national park?

Brewster County Judge Greg Henington, whose county contains the national park, and other local officials met with CBP representatives last week for a status update on all the Big Bend area border wall projects.

Henington said he learned in that meeting that CBP plans to improve, but not pave, dirt roads in the national park, including River Road and Black Gap Road.

Some existing paved roads in the national park will both be improved, he said, and vehicle barriers in the form of concrete bollards will be installed at spots along the river like Lajitas, Rio Grande Village and La Linda, Henington said.

According to Henington, CBP representatives told local officials that they plan to utilize cameras and sensors with infrared technology to respect the area’s dark sky designation. Still, Henington said they were ultimately “vague on what electronic surveillance really entails.”

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

Yes, absolutely.

Throughout recent months, CBP’s plans have changed multiple times 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.

When could actual construction on border walls or other infrastructure begin?

It’s hard to say.

Local officials were previously told by CBP in March that construction could begin as soon as June 1, but the agency has not since provided an updated timeline.

Still, contractors are already mobilizing in the region.

One federal contractor began moving heavy equipment to the Rio Grande earlier this month for the Hudspeth-Jeff Davis-Presidio County wall project. This came after a dustup among contractor crews and local county officials about “unauthorized” road work that began on a rural dirt road to the border in April.

Meanwhile, plans are underway for a 500-person “man camp” housing facility for border wall workers south of Van Horn in Lobo. Construction activity on the land has started in recent weeks, though the local groundwater district is still considering whether or not to allow a designated agricultural water well to be used as a commercial well for the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is meanwhile in active negotiations with local landowners about acquiring property for the project. Is it unclear how many landowners have authorized border wall construction at this point, or how many will be facing eminent domain proceedings and when those will be initiated.

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.

This week, seven former superintendents of Big Bend National Park sent Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin a letter urging him not to waive federal environmental laws for border barriers in the park, arguing that even new vehicle barriers and roads would be “highly destructive.”

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.

Local officials were largely in the dark about the wall plans for many months, prompting a coalition of border county judges to send a letter to Mullin requesting more collaboration with local communities impacted by the project. Now, they are set to meet with CBP officials once every couple of weeks, according to Brewster County Judge Greg Henington.

“ None of this makes any of us happy, but I think it’s a positive that at least they seem to be moving away from this secret squirrel stuff and being more open about it,” he said.

The state’s top elected officials — namely, Republican Gov. Abbott — have remained mostly quiet on the issue, while area lawmakers Sen. Cesar Blanco and Rep. Eddie Morales – both Democrats – have come out in opposition to the wall plan.

The Center for Biological Diversity, a church preservation group and a local river guide have also sued DHS for bypassing federal environmental laws to speed up border wall plans in the region, arguing the move is unconstitutional and would lead to the destruction of “iconic sections” of the Rio Grande corridor.

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 510 miles of the border – has historically been one of the least-trafficked areas of the southwestern border.

Apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally in the sector fell 74% from 2023 to 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 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.

This reporting was made possible by generous donations from supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to Marfa Public Radio to fund the journalism you rely on.