Customs and Border Protection pauses construction in Big Bend National Park for on-site review

The Trump administration announced a temporary pause in construction of a border wall segment that would pass through Texas' Big Bend National Park. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) head Rodney Scott said he would travel to the site for a personal evaluation and meet with local leaders, community members and other stakeholders.

Scott posted on X that the pause would allow him to “listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders” and to address what he described as “real” national security threats while protecting the park. The suspension follows bipartisan criticism that the project could damage the park’s environment and that the region’s rugged terrain already deters illegal crossings.

Congress allocated $46 billion last summer for a wall extending from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has pursued rapid construction, often waiving regulations. CBP previously scaled back a 30-foot bollard wall plan for the parks but continued with other measures, including a new road, lighting, vehicle barriers and buried fiber-optic technology.

Opposition to the project has come from local sheriffs, former park officials, residents who depend on tourism, and some Texas elected officials. Senator John Cornyn wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, noting that the park’s steep cliffs, canyons and desert landscape serve as a natural deterrent to illegal migration.