The Trump administration on Monday said it is temporarily pausing construction of a segment of border wall in Texas’ Big Bend National Park amid concerns it is unnecessary and would blight the scenic nature reserve. 

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott indicated the pause will remain in effect while a small team, including himself, evaluates the project and meets with local law enforcement and officials in southwestern Texas. 

“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” Scott wrote on X. 

A Big Bend National Park sign is seen at the west side entrance near Maverick Junction. Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP

People protest the plans by President Donald Trump’s administration to build a section of the border wall at the Big Bend National Park. AFP via Getty Images

“CBP is firmly committed to protecting America,  and that includes our national treasures like Big Bend National Park (BBNP),” he added. “We know the current and predictable national security threats and they are real. Now over the next couple of days, I will join a small team to evaluate the terrain and listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders to ensure that we secure our borders while simultaneously protecting BBNP for generations to come.” 

Congress provided the Trump administration with $46 billion last summer to build a border wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Efforts to secure the US-Mexico boundary near Big Bend and a state park to the west, however, have faced intense bipartisan opposition. 

Critics of the project say it will desecrate the park’s pristine environment. They also contend the region’s rugged and remote terrain already acts as a deterrent against illegal border-crossings, which have historically been lower near Big Bend than in other regions and have dropped even further since President Trump entered his second term. 

Rodney Scott, commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, speaks during a news conference in Nogales, Arizona. Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Recently a bipartisan group of Texas border sheriffs and county judges, private landowners, and the Big Bend Park advocates have raised significant concerns about [the Department of Homeland Security’s] proposed construction of border barriers in Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin last week.  

“My constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States,” Cornyn continued. “The dangerous terrain includes steep mountains, deep canyons, and expansive deserts which they believe act a natural barrier that limits large-scale movements.”

The Texas Republican noted that many residents who live and work around the parks are concerned “that a physical wall, which would be accompanied by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors, would (1) ruin the beauty, landscape, and wildlife of the park, (2) threaten culturally significant Native American sites, (3) disrupt wildlife migration, (4) limit access to the Rio Grande River, and (5) significantly harm the local economy as tourism is a major economic driver for the region.”

Heavy machinery is seen inside Big Bend National Park in southern Texas on Saturday, August 15, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Activists opposed to the Big Bend border wall were encouraged by the pause. 

“They are paying attention to all of the objections that have been raised across the political spectrum,” Bob Krumenaker, the former superintendent of Big Bend National Park, told the Associated Press. 

Krumenaker, who now chairs the group, “Keep Big Bend Wild,” said he was “wary but optimistic” after Scott announced the halt in construction. 

“Let’s hope they significantly modify their plans in response to what they hear, and make it transparent,” he added.

A woman holds a sign to protest the plans by President Donald Trump’s administration to build a section of the border wall at the Big Bend National Park. AFP via Getty Images

Laiken Jordahl, who is with the Center for Biological Diversity, a group that sued the Trump administration over the decision to broadly waive regulations to speed up construction projects in the Big Bend region, called the announcement “welcome news” but warned that construction could resume “at any moment.”

“This temporary pause proves how much non-partisan public pressure is mounting in West Texas and across America to stop the irreversible destruction unfolding in this crown jewel national park,” Jordahl said. 

“We’re not resting until these contracts are canceled, these workers are sent packing, the waivers are rescinded and every wall plan for the greater Big Bend region is scrapped for good,” he added.

With Post wires