Originally posted August 6, 2026
Texas Democrats in Congress are urging the Trump administration to pause its plan for widespread border security infrastructure inside Big Bend National Park, as a federal contractor working on the project begins to move heavy machinery into the park and local activists warn construction could start at any moment.
On Tuesday, Marfa Public Radio witnessed a bulldozer and multiple trucks bearing the contractor’s name – Southwest Valley Constructors – stationed inside the park near the entrance to Cottonwood Campground, which is situated right next to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The company has been awarded $1.7 billion – one of the largest-ever federal border security contracts – to build a mix of vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and 200 miles of new “patrol roads” across the sprawling West Texas park as part of the Trump administration’s border-wide “Smart Wall” plan. The roads, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said, could be up to 24 feet wide.
Read the full story at Houston Public Media.
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