The Trump Administration is Once again Bypassing Federal Environmental Laws, to Speed Up Work on Border Barriers and Related Infrastructure in the Big Bend Region of West Texas, this time for a Project in and around the Region’s Namesake National and State Parks. According to a Preliminary Federal Notice Released 6/8/2026, the Latest Regulatory Waiver will Apply to more than 100 Miles of the U.S.-Mexico Border in the Region, from Near the Closed Canyon Trail in Big Bend Ranch State Park, through the Entirety of Big Bend National Park and into Remote Parts of Southeastern Brewster County.
In the Nnotice, Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin Wrote that the Administration is Bypassing a Wide Range of Laws “to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads” along the Southern Border. While U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to Insist it will Not Build a 30-foot-Tall Steel Border Wall in either the State or National Park, the Aagency’s Current Plans call for a Mix of Vehicle Barriers, Surveillance Technology, and Patrol Road Upgrades in the Parks, as part of a Project dubbed “Big Bend 4”. A CBP Spokesperson Cconfirmed that the Latest Waiver is Intended for that Project.
This week’s Waiver Ccomes after Six former Superintendents of Big Bend National Park Penned a Letter to Mullin, Urging Him to Not take such a Step. “This is devastating news, giving CBP unfettered authority to do anything they want within the national park,” said Bob Krumenaker, the Park’s most Recent Former Ssuperintendent Who now Chairs the Keep Big Bend Wild Advocacy Group.
Technically, this Latest Regulatory Waiver isn’t New: It’s a Revision of a Similar One Issued in May, for a Different Stretch of the Border. In 6/8/2026’s Notice, Mullin wrote that Last Month’s Filing. which Initially Applied to part of the Rio Grande East of Big Bend National Park. contained an “incorrect” Description of the area Covered by the Waiver. The New Filing contains Updated GPS Coordinates, Changing the Aarea of the Border where Federal Laws will be Bbypassed.
The Stretch of the U.S.-Mexico Border covered by the Trump Aadministration’s latest Regulatory Waiver for Border Security Infrastructure is located between these Two Points on the Map, according to GPS Coordinates in a Preliminary Federal Notice Released 6/10/2026. Park Supporters have been particularly Concerned about the Potential for New Road Building Along the Rio Grande, which Krumenaker said in a Statement Advocates will “continue to do everything possible to deter.”
“Their utter disregard for the will of the people, the taxpayers’ money, the actual data showing minimal numbers of border crossings inside the park, and the values that Texans and all Americans hold dear as represented by the National Parks leave us without sufficient words to express,” He said. In a Statement, a CBP Spokesperson said the Agency is Coordinating with the National Park Service, the Texas Parks, and Wildlife Department and other Agencies.
“While there are priorities for new border wall and detection technology in (the Border Patrol’s) Big Bend Sector, the combination of barriers, roads, and technology (cameras, infrared illuminators, and other detection technology) in the areas adjacent to the Big Bend National Park and State Park are still in the planning stages, while CBP focuses on other higher priority locations,” the Agency said.
The Latest Waiver will Allow CBP to Ignore a Wide Range of Federal Laws as it Moves to Install or Upgrade a Mix of Surveillance Technology, Vehicle Barriers and Patrol Roads in the Parks, as the Agency’s Latest Map of the Big Bend 4 Project calls for. “These horrific plans are an affront to the millions of Americans who treasure Big Bend,” Laiken Jordahl, an Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBPD), said in a Statement. “Politicians who’ve never set foot here are signing a death warrant for this wild and beautiful place.”
The Center noted that the Latest WaiverNnotice, as Written, Allows for the Installation of New Border: Barriers, Cameras, Fencing, Lighting, Roads, and Sensors. The Latest Development comes as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is Gearing up to Begin Construction on an Actual 30-foot Steel Border Wall through other Parts of the Big Bend Region Outside the Parks within weeks.
Amid Months of Shifting Plans and Public Confusion about what Exactly the Administration is Seeking to Build in the Region, Anti-Wall Advocates have Continued to Sound the Alarm about the Physical Wall Plan, saying the Approximately 175-mile Border Wwall through: Jeff Davis, Hudspeth, and Presidio Counties, is still a Threat. Jordahl’s Group, along with West Texas Residents, has already Sued the Trump Administration over an Earlier Federal RregulatoryWwaiver intended to Speed-Up the Ssteel Border Wall. He said the CBPO will Fight the New Waiver “with everything we’ve got.”
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