Border control has long been one of the most contentious issues in American politics, but the deployment of immigration enforcement agents throughout the country during President Donald Trump’s second administration has only raised the stakes of the immigration debate. And now, as bulldozers have entered Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas as part of Trump’s stated plan to bring $1.7 billion worth of border security infrastructure to the remote region, the futures of both safe immigration and protected federal land appear to be in jeopardy.
What’s happening in Big Bend National Park?
The Terlingua, Texas-based Center for Biological Diversity released a statement earlier this month that linked to a video of government contractors “plowing through native vegetation along the Rio Grande’s riparian corridor.” According to an interactive map created by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, also referenced in the statement, there are plans to build “vehicle barriers and patrol roads” across Big Bend, which, per the Center for Biological Diversity, “require extensive dynamite blasting” damaging to the local ecosystem. (By its own reporting, Big Bend’s habitats support “more than 1,200 species of plants (including some 60 cacti species), 11 species of amphibians, 56 species of reptiles, 40 species of fish, 75 species of mammals, over 400 species of birds, and about 3,600 species of insects.” The park is also supposed to have “more types of birds, bats, butterflies, ants, scorpions, and cacti than any other national park in the United States.”)
In June, the Department of Homeland Security controversially waived dozens of environmental laws passed with the intent of protecting national parks and ecological conservation areas, an action that may have cleared the way for the Trump administration to begin bulldozing in Big Bend (an area that saw just 1.3% of total border apprehensions in 2025).
What can still be done?
Yet some groups are still working to slow the government’s plans for Big Bend. The Texas-based nonprofit Big Bend Protection Alliance is accepting donations to help the organization “protect the ecological and cultural integrity of the Big Bend region through education, monitoring, and public awareness.” But concerned citizens can also take more direct action by contacting Congress and Texas Governor Greg Abbott as part of the National Parks Conservation Association’s “Stop Bulldozing in Big Bend” petition. If you live in Texas, the website Who Represents Me? can help you find your specific state representative to contact.
