Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Growing frustration and protests are spreading in and around Big Bend National Park in far west Texas, where locals are demanding crews stop work on border security projects they say are unnecessary and destroying a national treasure.
The projects are part of the broader southern border barrier initiative that received $46.5 billion under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
More than 800,000 acres of rugged beauty line the border between the U.S. and Mexico inside the park. But now, the natural rhythm of Big Bend National Park is giving way to the rumble of bulldozers, backhoes, and outrage from those who call the area home.
One protestor shouted, "We're at war with these people."
That "war" is against work that has already started on a group of Trump administration projects to build 200 miles of border wall, mostly just outside of Big Bend, while carving out hundreds of miles of patrol roads, installing cameras, sensors, and lighting systems, along with 17 miles of 4-to-6 foot vehicle barriers inside Texas' most popular national park — at a cost of more than $7 billion.
"This has nothing to do with border security, and everything to do with corruption," another protester said.
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Growing frustration and protests are spreading in and around Big Bend National Park in far west Texas, where locals are demanding crews stop work on border security projects they say are unnecessary and destroying a national treasure.
The projects are part of the broader southern border barrier initiative that received $46.5 billion under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
More than 800,000 acres of rugged beauty line the border between the U.S. and Mexico inside the park. But now, the natural rhythm of Big Bend National Park is giving way to the rumble of bulldozers, backhoes, and outrage from those who call the area home.
One protestor shouted, "We're at war with these people."
That "war" is against work that has already started on a group of Trump administration projects to build 200 miles of border wall, mostly just outside of Big Bend, while carving out hundreds of miles of patrol roads, installing cameras, sensors, and lighting systems, along with 17 miles of 4-to-6 foot vehicle barriers inside Texas' most popular national park — at a cost of more than $7 billion.
"This has nothing to do with border security, and everything to do with corruption," another protester said.
-------------------------------------
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Join our newsletter at bit.ly/2q1tepr
Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/scrippsnews
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