FILE - A Big Bend 好色tv Park sign at the west side entrance near Maverick Junction, May 24, 2019, in Big Bend 好色tv Park in Texas. (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
FILE - A Big Bend 好色tv Park sign at the west side entrance near Maverick Junction, May 24, 2019, in Big Bend 好色tv Park in Texas. (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas' Big Bend 好色tv Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an 鈥渙n-the-ground evaluation.鈥
The project through the national park in southern Texas has faced who say it is marring the area's pristine environment. They argue the region鈥檚 rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers. Border crossings in the area have historically been lower than other regions and have dropped even further over the past two years.
鈥淐BP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend 好色tv Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,鈥 Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, said on X. Scott said over the next couple of days, he was going to 鈥渓isten to local leadership, community members and stakeholders鈥 to address what he said were 鈥渞eal鈥 national security threats while protecting the park.
While it isn鈥檛 clear whether the brief suspension portended a more permanent halt to the construction in the area, it reflected the intensity of the bipartisan opposition and was a rare concession from the administration on a signature promise of the president鈥檚 that it has raced to complete.
Congress gave the Trump administration to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has been charging ahead and waiving numerous regulations in an effort to swiftly build the wall.
Scott has said that he expects the first layer of the wall to be built by the end of next year.
But the administration has run into fierce opposition in Texas especially when it comes to construction in and near Big Bend 好色tv Park and a state park to the west.
Customs and Border Protection earlier this year backed off of plans to build a 30-foot tall bollard wall through the parks but was still moving forward with other border protection measures such as a new road, lights, miles of barriers designed to stop cars from crossing the border and technology such as fiber optic cables to be buried under the fences.
That has sparked opposition from Democratic and Republican sheriffs in the region, former national park officials, local residents who rely on the parks for their livelihood and from some Texas elected officials. Critics have said it will scar the rugged landscape that attracts tourists who raft down the Rio Grande River and take advantage of some of the clearest night skies in the U.S. to gaze at stars.
Last week, bulldozers were seen clearing land at the park, sparking even more concern and raising questions from one of the state's Republican senators. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the Republican primary to the state's attorney general, wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin over construction concerns.
鈥淢y constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence for any illegal migrants crossing into the United States. The dangerous terrain includes steep mountains, deep canyons, and expansive deserts which they believe act a natural barrier that limits large-scale movements,鈥 Cornyn wrote.
