The proposals could "inflict irreparable damage to one of the country's most iconic national parks".
13:44, Sat, Feb 21, 2026 Updated: 13:48, Sat, Feb 21, 2026
Conservation groups have warned that the wall could cause 'irreparable damage' (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump's plans to build a new border wall through a Texas nature reserve have sparked fury from campaigners. The US president's administration has put forward proposals for the so-called smart wall on Big Bend National Park's southern edge, extending from Southern California to the Gulf of Mexico. Outlines of the project shared by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show a 175-mile construction equipped with cameras, lights and detection technologies, and lay out ambitions to eventually extend the wall across the entirety of the US-Mexico border.
In a press release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the wall will help to secure the nation's borders, but critics have warned that part of it will be built inside the national park, requiring US officials to override 28 federal environmental laws. The planned waivers include the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act.
The plans were put forward by Donald Trump's administration (Image: Getty)
Cary Dupuy, regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, called the proposal "devastating".
He added: "Building a border wall through Big Bend National Park would choke off vital wildlife migration routes, intensify flooding risks, and inflict irreparable damage to one of our country's most iconic national parks.
"We need to look for border solutions that are as unique as our landscapes and communities. And we must ensure the solutions we find don't destroy the national treasures we've committed to protecting."
Local archeologist David Keller, also hit out at the "military industrialisation of one of the last great unspoiled places left in the United States".
He told Inside Climate News: "One of our most beloved national parks and the largest park in Texas will be scarred beyond repair."
The DHS said it had already awarded contracts for the construction project, which could last several years and is estimated for completion by 2028.
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At around 800,000 acres, Big Bend is one of the US' biggest national parks and has already faced environmental hurdles including a hotel in the Chisos Basin being forced to close in January amid water shortages.
Officials have not detailed how the risks of increased flooding and disruption to wildlife would be mitigated during and after construction.
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