Originally posted August 14, 2026
Bulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend National Park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to new footage taken by activists who have been monitoring the site.
Tensions have run high since the Trump administration announced plans to erect new border security infrastructure in the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region of south-west Texas, which includes the Lone Star State’s largest and most-visited national park.
Since last week, activists have shared video footage that appeared to show heavy machinery laying the groundwork for new border infrastructure that Customs and Border Protection did not announce and initially denied was happening. By Thursday, photographer Natalie Newman captured video footage of bulldozers plowing earth at the mouth of the Santa Elena Canyon, an iconic and frequently visited stretch of the Rio Grande flanked by 1,500-foot cliffs.
Read the full story on the Public Domain substack.
Photo credit Robert Hensley @ Flickr.
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