Bulldozers Invade Big Bend National Park as Border Militarization Threatens Environment
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Activists have documented destructive heavy machinery at Santa Elena Canyon, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection is pushing forward with new patrol roads and barriers. The project, part of the Trump administration’s expansionist border agenda, has sparked outrage among environmentalists and progressive politicians.
Activists monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border have sounded the alarm as bulldozers tear into the fragile ecosystem at the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park. This latest assault is part of the Trump administration’s so-called 'smart wall' expansion, a policy that continues to prioritize militarization and surveillance over environmental protection and community well-being. Despite weeks of video evidence showing heavy machinery desecrating the land for new patrol roads and vehicle barriers, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initially attempted to mislead the public by denying the activity.
Big Bend, a vast 800,000-acre sanctuary of desert and mountains, has seen minimal unauthorized crossings—only 100-125 arrests in 2023 and 2024, according to former park superintendent Bob Krumenaker, now leading the advocacy group Keep Big Bend Wild. CBP later admitted that the machinery is conducting survey and design work for planned infrastructure, not yet constructing a wall, and claimed the project is to keep the area 'free from fear of cartel activity'—a narrative often used to justify border militarization.
'What people are seeing right now is survey and design work – NOT construction of a wall through the park,' CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott insisted, downplaying the irreversible damage being done.
Environmental groups and local communities have condemned the project as an attack on public lands and biodiversity. Laiken Jordahl, a public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, called the clearing 'devastating' and warned that the agency’s contract with Southwest Valley Contractors could open the door to even more destructive wall construction. Legal action has been filed by river guide Billy Miller and the Center for Biological Diversity, charging that the Department of Homeland Security’s waivers of critical environmental and cultural protection laws trample due process and community rights.
Congressional opposition has emerged, with Senator John Cornyn sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin urging a halt to construction for community input. While Democratic lawmakers have spoken out forcefully against the plan, Texas Republicans have largely remained silent, with Governor Greg Abbott’s office cynically framing the region as a testing ground for border-security technology.
After pressure from activists and legal challenges, the Department of Homeland Security agreed in June to provide at least 30 days’ notice before any further ground-disturbing activities in the park—a small but hard-won concession for those fighting to protect Big Bend from border militarization.