Trump administration pauses contentious border construction in Texas’ Big Bend National Park during top official’s visit

Controversial project has faced bipartisan opposition by critics who say it mars pristine environmental area in TexasThe Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in Big Bend national park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an “on-the-ground evaluation”.The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring a pristine environmental area, and that the region’s rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers. The Trump administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an "on-the-ground evaluation." WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an “on-the-ground evaluation.” The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring the area’s pristine environment.

They argue the region’s rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers. Border crossings in the area have historically been lower than other regions and have dropped even further over the past two years. “CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, said on X.

Scott said over the next couple of days, he was going to “listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders” to address what he said were “real” national security threats while protecting the park. While it isn’t clear whether the brief suspension portended a more permanent halt to the construction in the area, it reflected the intensity of the bipartisan opposition and was a rare concession from the administration on a signature promise of the president’s that it has raced to complete. Congress gave the Trump administration $46 billion last summer to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has been charging ahead and waiving numerous regulations in an effort to swiftly build the wall.

Scott has said that he expects the first layer of the wall to be built by the end of next year. But the administration has run into fierce opposition in Texas especially when it comes to construction in and near Big Bend National Park and a state park to the west. Customs and Border Protection earlier this year backed off of plans to build a 30-foot tall bollard wall through the parks but was still moving forward with other border protection measures such as a new road, lights, miles of barriers designed to stop cars from crossing the border and technology such as fiber optic cables to be buried under the fences.

That has sparked opposition from Democratic and Republican sheriffs in the region, former national park officials, local residents who rely on the parks f… WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration pauses contentious border construction in Texas’ Big Bend National Park during top official’s visit.