Markings for a physical border wall have reappeared on U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s updated map of its planned projects in Big Bend National Park.
The changes appeared Tuesday on the CBP’s map without an announcement from the federal agency. Four portions of planned border wall, indicated in green, appear in the national park, directly contradicting prior assurances from a CBP official that a steel border wall wasn’t planned for the public lands.
In March, the Big Bend Sentinel reported that a physical wall was no longer planned for the park after a closed-door meeting between U.S. Border Patrol Big Bend Sector Patrol Chief Agent Lloyd Easterling, Presidio County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler and other local officials.
The line representing plans for a physical wall on the map also changed color overnight, indicating that it had changed to a surveillance zone, likely involving cameras but offering no specifics. Locals were wary of the news, and many said they didn’t trust it. Instead, they continued to stage protests on river canoes in the limestone gorge of Santa Elena Canyon, assuming the physical border wall was going ahead as planned.
It seems their suspicion was warranted.
CBP’s map has changed yet again. This time, four sections of physical border wall appear in the park. Additionally, the “smart wall” has been changed to “Technology & Patrol Road,” perhaps indicating that Border Patrol plans to build roads in the unspoiled natural landscape.
Locals warn that some of the hundreds of miles of new “Technology & Patrol Roads” shown on the map threaten the popular Langford Hot Springs, the Rio Grande Village campground, Mariscal Canyon and the scenery and ecology of the Rio Grande. Additionally, the new map blocks access to the most popular boat entry point for Santa Elena river trips.
“If anything close to what’s on this map is built, it will go down as the biggest butchery inflicted on an American national park in the last century,” environmental activist Laikan Jordahl said on Instagram.
Monday’s update is the latest in a series of drastic changes made to the map without communication from federal immigration officials, adding to stress for locals whose way of life and cherished natural environment hang in the balance.
“National park advocates and members of impacted West Texas communities have received little to no notice about these changes, and there has been zero transparency on what impacts this new border wall plan will have on Big Bend National Park,” said Cary Dupuy, Texas Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association.
“CBP should have the decency to come meet face-to-face with our communities,” Jordahl continued in his online post. “To sit in the same room with the landowners whose entire livelihoods they’re about to destroy. To explain why on earth it’s worth building these obscenely expensive and destructive walls in a place where virtually nobody crosses the border.”
Additionally, the latest map update also includes what appear to be errors, such as showing portions of the wall in Mexico.
West Texans continue to seek clarity on specifics of the project, such as the technology planned for the “surveillance wall” portions.
“CBP has still not specified what that technology would include,” environmental watchdog Our Public Lands wrote on Substack. “Watchtowers? Stadium lighting? Cameras? Other kinds of surveillance? None of that has been explained, specified, or excluded by the Trump administration.”
The environmental blog’s Substack post also raised questions about CBP’s planned “patrol roads,” and whether those and the the heavy machinery needed for the physical wall would entail constructing new roads through the park.
Without communication from the feds, locals have little more to go on than speculation. Vigilantly, they continue to monitor the lines on the map to see if they have suddenly changed color, if they have moved.
“The administration is rushing to build a border wall in Big Bend and the impacts could be devastating for the park’s priceless landscapes, unique wildlife, and recreation access for generations of park visitors to come,” said Dupuy. “It’s time for the administration to stop moving the goalposts and begin an open, transparent dialogue with communities about their plans for border security infrastructure in Big Bend.”
Despite a lack of transparency from the White House, what’s clear is that area residents don’t plan to ease up on their public pressure campaign, no matter what immigration officials say — or what color the line on the map is on any given day.
“We won’t stop fighting for the Big Bend until legal protections are restored and these catastrophic plans are scrapped for good,” Jordahl said.
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