Big Bend residents push against the ongoing border build-up the Trump administration is rushing to install

Reeds and mesquite trees line the banks of the Rio Grande River as it flows through the western Texas region known as Big Bend. Residents of this rural area are deeply worried about the Trump administration's use of eminent domain to proceed with a controversial "border barrier" that will include 30-foot tall steel border walls, Carlos Morales reports for NPR. 

Big Bend's rough terrain makes it a less popular place
to illegally cross into the U.S. (Texas Almanac map)

For Joe Pineda, who ranches along the river in Redford, Texas, that may mean selling or losing land that has been in his family since the late 1800s. Morales writes, "Pineda received a letter from the federal government warning of eminent domain proceedings if they don't agree to sell the land or voluntarily give access for border wall construction."

Pineda is not alone; many Big Bend community members are alarmed by the private property the federal government wants to use and the disruptive elements such as patrol roads, flood lighting and surveillance systems that the government will include in its border barrier project.

Unlike many partisan issues today, the push against a border build-up in Big Bend has "united an unusual coalition of people across the political spectrum who say a wall is not needed here," Morales reports. "They worry about threats to the environment and Indigenous sites, to impact on the region's famously dark skies and on wild animals, like Black bears, bobcats and bighorn sheep."

Big Bend businesses are also worried about what the border barrier will do to the region's growing tourism economy, which brings in roughly $56 million a year, according to Morales.

Sunset at Big Bend National Park in Texas.
(Photo by Caleb Fisher, Unsplash)

Many residents point to the area's rugged terrain as a reason fewer illegal crossings are attempted in the region. In short, a wall isn't needed in Big Bend. Morales adds, "In the first three months of this year, Customs and Border Protection's Big Bend Sector saw 498 apprehensions, which is just over a tenth of the apprehensions made in Texas' busiest sector."

Big Bend residents also say there's a better way to spend taxpayer money. Morales explains, "The price tag for a single mile of border barrier is over $17 million." Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson, who grew up in the region, told Morales, "We agree with border security. We agree there needs to be walls ... but not here. We just need to be monitored, we need the manpower, and I think we'd be very fine."

Meanwhile, some property owners are adamant that the region be left alone. Morales adds, "They say they're willing to do whatever it takes, including filing their own lawsuits against the government, to stop the build-up at the border."