2026-08-17
The Trump administration is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border project in Texas's Big Bend National Park while CBP head Rodney Scott conducts an on-the-ground evaluation of the work. The project has drawn fierce bipartisan opposition from critics who argue the work is marring a pristine environmental area and that the region's rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers.
2026-08-14
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., ruled on Friday that the Tohono O'odham Nation has not established grounds to block the Trump administration from building 62 miles of international border wall along part of its 2.8-million-acre reservation without its consent.
2026-08-14
Heavy earth-moving equipment was visible Thursday plowing ground at the mouth of Big Bend National Park's Santa Elena Canyon in footage released by photographer Natalie Newman, marking a visible start to construction for the Trump administration's border-barrier expansion on the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection initially said the bulldozers were not related to construction, then reversed that denial.