If you have been following US Border News’ coverage of the battle over building “border barriers” and “patrol roads” through the Big Bend in far (remote) West Texas, you know that bipartisan opposition is centered around the locals’ contention that the Federal Government’s plans are unnecessary and amount to a multi-billion-dollar grift that will benefit a large out-of-state GOP political donor.
The opposition prompted US Customs & Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott to announce a construction pause shortly after traveling to Texas from Washington, DC to meet with local Texas officials on Tuesday, August 18, 2026:
US Customs & Border Protection (CBP), along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), insists that these construction projects not be called a “Border Wall,” but the ongoing build-outs have evolved into what Texas Monthly magazine has called “an act of mindless zealotry.”
The area is not just considered a “wild” part of Texas, but one of the last “dark skies” portions of the lower 48 states where astronomers can view stars and planets through their telescopes:
Robert Reich - who worked in the Presidential Administrations of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, decried the Big Bend Border Barrier construction (as have others in West Texas) as “a grift.”
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott’s Big Bend Fact-finding mission is expected to continue on Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
One GOP Texas State Representative (Wes Virdell of Brady, Texas) is on record as predicting this issue could produce a backlash against Republicans during the midterm elections if the party does not oppose the project.
Do you support construction of “Border Barriers” in the Big Bend National Park area of West Texas?
Share your opinion in a comment to this story!
Abrazos,
Jack Beavers
