Customs and Border Protection has begun installing steel wall panels along a 47-mile project area in Hudspeth County as the Trump administration accelerates a $46 billion expansion of border barriers, roads and surveillance infrastructure despite lawsuits and opposition elsewhere in the Big Bend region.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas — Construction crews have begun installing border wall panels in a remote section of West Texas, bringing President Donald Trump’s expanded border infrastructure program into the Big Bend region as federal officials report a doubling of the overall pace of barrier construction.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed that “border wall panel installation is underway” in an approximately 47-mile project area in Hudspeth County identified as Big Bend 1.

A photograph published with CBP construction updates showed a crane positioning one of the approximately 30-foot-tall steel barrier panels while workers stood nearby. The agency did not specify when installation of the first panels began.

Big Bend 1 is one of five federal project areas spanning the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region, which stretches from territory south of El Paso through remote sections of West Texas to Lake Amistad.

The construction represents the first major wall installation in a region where the administration’s plans have generated sustained opposition from some ranchers, private landowners, environmental organizations, business owners and local residents.

The work is part of the administration’s approximately $46 billion initiative to expand physical and technological infrastructure along the roughly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

The broader plan includes 30-foot steel bollard barriers, vehicle obstacles, patrol and access roads and surveillance and detection technology intended to make unauthorized crossings and smuggling more difficult.

CBP says construction across the southern border is now averaging approximately 12 miles of barriers per week.

That pace is twice the rate previously cited earlier this year by CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott.

The agency also recently reported reaching 200 miles of new barriers constructed since the beginning of Trump’s second administration.

The new work in Hudspeth County is separate from the administration’s disputed infrastructure plans farther south in and around Big Bend National Park.

Construction associated with the national park has been temporarily suspended while federal officials conduct additional outreach concerning the project.

That pause does not extend to the Big Bend 1 work now underway.

Opponents said Friday that contractors had already been moving equipment and construction supplies into the remote Rio Grande corridor before CBP confirmed that panels were being installed.

Clara Benson, a founder of the No Big Bend Wall Coalition, said the organization had received reports of trucks transporting supplies and contractors clearing areas that could be used to stage equipment and materials.

Benson was in Washington with other opponents of the projects meeting lawmakers as construction proceeded in Texas.

“We will continue to fight for this land no matter what the outcome is. We will continue fighting to the end,” Benson said.

“You talk to people in west Texas and they say even if they put it up, we’ll fight for them to take it down. So this fight is not over.”

Opposition throughout the Big Bend region has focused on several issues, including private property, access to the Rio Grande, tourism, wildlife habitat, cultural sites and whether the relatively low level of illegal border crossings in the area justifies extensive infrastructure.

A group of landowners, ranchers and business owners joined the nonprofit Conserve Big Bend this week in suing the federal government in an effort to halt portions of the administration’s plans.

The lawsuit challenges the government’s authority to move forward with the projects and disputes its characterization of the region as an area of high illegal entry.

The plaintiffs include property owners who say proposed barriers, roads and related infrastructure could cross or affect their land.

Conserve Big Bend says its broader coalition includes more than 200 ranchers, river outfitters, scientists, business owners, artists, tour guides and other residents concerned about the project.

Some landowners have refused to allow government personnel or contractors onto their property to conduct surveys.

Residents and activists have also attended county meetings seeking to persuade local officials not to cooperate with contractors working for CBP.

The administration has faced other challenges to border wall construction across Texas, including disputes involving irrigation infrastructure, environmental protections and government access to private property.

In the Big Bend region, opposition has drawn particular attention because much of the river corridor outside the national park passes through privately owned property.

The lawsuit filed this week alleges that construction could affect access to water, archaeological areas, tourism operations and other property interests.

Federal officials have maintained that additional barriers are needed as part of a system combining walls, roads and detection technology to give Border Patrol agents greater control over the southern border.

CBP has continued construction while some individual projects remain tied up in litigation or negotiations with affected property owners.

The Big Bend region has also presented different terrain and enforcement conditions from heavily traveled border areas near major cities.

Opponents have cited federal apprehension statistics showing the region accounts for a comparatively small portion of migrant arrests along the southern border. The administration has nevertheless included the area in its broader effort to develop a more continuous system of physical barriers and supporting infrastructure.

The Big Bend 1 project now provides the first major example of that policy moving from planning to wall installation in this portion of West Texas.

CBP’s confirmation that panels are going into place comes as litigation over other parts of the Big Bend program continues and construction inside the national park remains temporarily suspended.

The administration, meanwhile, is pressing ahead with its larger objective of expanding border infrastructure at a pace CBP says has reached approximately 12 miles each week.

With steel panels now being installed in Hudspeth County, the dispute over the Big Bend wall has shifted from plans and surveys to active construction, even as property owners and advocacy groups continue pursuing legal and political efforts to stop additional projects across the region.

Original article