Border Wall Construction Begins in Big Bend, Drawing Bipartisan Pushback

Lawmakers and residents of Texas on both sides of the political aisle are expressing their concern as bulldozers tear across Big Bend National Park to create a new border wall. Here is a look at the brewing controversy.

President Trump Met with Resistance Over Border Wall in Texas

For centuries, the natural terrain of Texas' Big Bend region has served as an effective deterrent against illegal immigrants. The idea of building physical structures to stop migration was unheard of. However, that is all changing under the leadership of President Donald Trump, as he continues his goal of protecting the southern border of the U.S. with a wall.

This remote part of the Lone Star State only experiences about 1% of the country's unauthorized border crossings. But that is not stopping the White House from trying to add an extra barrier of protection, much to the chagrin of many Democrats and even some Republicans.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency is not planning to add the 30-foot-high barrier that has been constructed in some areas of Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. However, bulldozers have still been observed digging up trees and destroying some of the landscape. The CBP said that the activity is preliminary work in advance of the $1.72 billion construction project slated within the beloved national park.

Politicians Speak Out Against the Wall Construction

Several politicians from all sides of the spectrum have expressed concern about the project. Retired park superintendent Bob Krumenaker warns that clearing out the vegetation could cause flooding that is worse than the historic Hetch Hetchy Valley event a century ago.

Krumenaker told CNN, "If they continue with this and build most of the things they have talked about, or even a good fraction of those, this will be the biggest desecration of the national park system — not just Big Bend National Park — since they built a dam in a pristine valley in Yosemite National Park more than 100 years ago. This is a story that our children and grandchildren will be telling."

He went on to say that clearing out the landscape to build a wall is a violation of "the agreement that Texans and the American people made when they established that national park. The federal government that I worked for for 41 years is disrespecting its citizens in a huge way.” Krumenaker is now serving as the chairman of the Keep Big Bend Wild group, noting that while he is in support of a secure border, the Big Bend region is the least active part of the U.S. for illegal crossings.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn, representing the state of Texas, wrote to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin last week asking him to meet with local officials before proceeding with any projects on state or federal property. Likewise, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, also a Republican, once commented that he did not see the need for a border across the entire state.

Protesters have gathered in the park to speak out against the planned wall in the park that attracts about 500,000 visitors each year. Environmental groups have expressed their concern that the construction could lead to debris in the river and light pollution in what is now some of the darkest skies in the Lower 48.

Advocate Joan Escamilla told fellow protesters that "The land remembers, the water remembers, it will remember us and our fight. You can bury my heart in the Rio Grande.”

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