The Trump administration is once again waiving federal environmental laws to speed up border security projects in the Big Bend region, with new “patrol roads” and vehicle barriers — instead of a steel wall — planned along a stretch of the Rio Grande.
U.S. Customs and Border (CBP) Protection’s latest border projects map shows vehicle barriers and roads are planned for a stretch of the region east of Big Bend National Park, through Brewster and Terrell counties and into Val Verde County.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is now waiving a wide range of environmental regulations for part of that project, according to a preliminary federal notice released Thursday.
The project area covered by the waivers extends from eastern Brewster County through all of Terrell County and into a portion of Val Verde County.
This stretch of the Rio Grande corridor is federally protected under a “Wild and Scenic Rivers” designation, but the latest regulatory waivers allow CBP to bypass those protections for border barriers or roads within the project area.
CBP and the National Park Service did not immediately comment on the new waivers.
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland said he and neighboring county sheriffs, along with some local officials, had met earlier in the day with CBP officials for an update on the administration’s border security plans across the region.
“They assured me it’s not that they’re looking to put a vehicle barrier completely across the county,” he said. “There’s not a piece of border in Terrell County where you can drive a vehicle across.”
Cleveland said vehicle barriers “make no sense” in his county, where the Rio Grande winds through a remote, rugged desert landscape and sometimes steep canyons. He said he left Thursday’s meeting feeling confident that a physical wall would not be built through his county, and that federal officials would focus on building or improving patrol roads where needed and utilizing some vehicle barriers.
CBP is still moving forward with separate plans for a 175-mile-long border wall in the greater Big Bend region that would stretch from Hudspeth County through much of Presidio County and end near Big Bend Ranch State Park. The wall would directly impact a couple small portions of state park lands, according to CBP’s map.
That project calls for a 30-foot-high steel bollard wall, along with light poles, underground fiber optic cables and possible surveillance cameras, according to CBP’s description of the project.
Cleveland said CBP officials did not discuss a timeline for when construction could start on the border wall at Thursday’s meeting, but there have been recent signs that the project is moving forward.
Culberson County commissioners this week heard details about a proposed “man camp” that could house up to 500 construction workers for the border wall project.
The county’s groundwater district also discussed the proposal at a board meeting Thursday afternoon but did not vote to approve or block the project. Board members instead directed the district's general manager to first look into whether the proposed man camp site is in compliance with state environmental regulations.
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