The Looming Disaster of the Border Wall in Big Bend, Texas
Key takeaways
- Then, in January, residents heard rumors that a steel barrier was in the works.
- The proposed wall in the Big Bend region would cost more than two billion dollars.
- Big Bend is Border Patrol’s largest sector by area along the Southwest border, spanning more than five hundred miles of the Rio Grande, but it has typically had the lowest number of illegal crossings.
An anti-wall rally in the Rio Grande, Texas, on April 4, 2026.Photographs by Hannah Gentiles Save this story Save this story Save this story Save this story Last fall, loops of razor-wire fencing were strung along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend area, a remote region of far West Texas. Then, in January, residents heard rumors that a steel barrier was in the works. The wall along the southern border of the United States, whose construction began in the early nineties, under President George H. W. Bush, spans some seven hundred miles. The Big Bend region had previously been a low priority, owing to its rugged terrain and low number of illegal crossings. “There’s parts of our border [in] which it makes absolutely no sense,” the Texas senator John Cornyn said, when the idea of a Big Bend border wall was floated during the first Trump Administration. In February, a local newspaper, the Big Bend Sentinel, reported that construction was imminent. Property owners received letters warning that their land might be taken through eminent domain. Soon, survey crews showed up, bulldozers were spotted along dusty roads, and the Army Corps of Engineers arranged private meetings. The founder of a local R.V. park said that he was offered more than half a million dollars to host workers. He turned it down. “I just couldn’t do it,” he posted on social media.
The proposed wall in the Big Bend region would cost more than two billion dollars. It would intrude on the land of alfalfa farmers, cattle ranchers, river guides, and wealthy landowners. It would block the views along what National Geographic has called one of the most scenic drives in the country, and it would brighten some of the darkest night skies in the continental United States. It would impede the movement of wild animals and prevent livestock from accessing the Rio Grande, a crucial water source. It may disturb historic evidence of “the edge of the Puebloan world,” according to an archeologist who works in the region. It could disrupt tourism in a regional economy that is reliant on it. In places prone to flooding, a wall could make the problem worse. It would sever people from their neighbors in a region that’s long considered itself binational and interdependent.
It is unclear what problem a wall would solve. Big Bend is Border Patrol’s largest sector by area along the Southwest border, spanning more than five hundred miles of the Rio Grande, but it has typically had the lowest number of illegal crossings. Since 2023, apprehensions have dropped further, to fewer than two hundred per month this year. The wall is opposed by environmental groups, local sheriffs, and a far-right pro-gun YouTuber who is the region’s Republican nominee for Congress. And yet construction appears to be proceeding apace.