One of President Donald Trump’s key issues in his 2024 campaign was sealing U.S. borders after four years of Joe Biden allowing mass immigration into the country.
To do that, Trump vowed to enforce all immigration laws vigorously, but in addition to that, he also pledged to restart construction of the border wall he began building during his first term.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is preparing to begin installing new border wall panels in Texas’ Big Bend region as early as August, according to reports published Tuesday.
The project includes construction along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border near Big Bend Ranch State Park, federal officials told The Center Square.
“We’ve been ordered to do it by [President Donald Trump’s] executive order, as well as the funding and appropriations under the One Big Beautiful Bill. The priority is to do the entire border,” CBP spokesperson John Mennell told the outlet.
CBP emphasized that several components of the project remain in the planning stages.
“While there are priorities for new border wall and detection technology in USBP’s Big Bend Sector, the combination of barriers, roads and technology (cameras, infrared illuminators, and other detection technology) in the areas adjacent to the Big Bend National Park and State Park are still in the planning stages,” CBP spokesperson Hilton Beckham told The Center Square.
“CBP continues to coordinate with the National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and other federal and state agencies throughout the planning of border barrier and technology deployments in order to achieve Border Patrol’s operational priorities,” Beckham added in an email.
The Big Bend initiative is divided into five segments and includes new border wall panels, expanded patrol roads, surveillance technology and additional vehicle barriers.
According to data from usaspending.gov cited by The Center Square, CBP has allocated approximately $7.5 billion for border security projects in the Big Bend region.
“CBP is utilizing the $46.5 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to construct a Smart Wall, which includes a steel bollard wall, along with roads, detection technology, cameras, lighting and, in some cases, a waterborne barrier or a secondary wall — creating a double-layer barrier,” Mennell said.
“The Smart Wall provides Border Patrol with both the impedance and denial, domain awareness and the access and mobility required to secure the border,” he added.
According to the report, the five construction segments span multiple counties along the Texas-Mexico border.
Big Bend 1 includes 47.4 miles of primary border wall in Hudspeth County, with wall panel installation expected to begin in September.
Big Bend 2 and Big Bend 3 are located in Presidio County.
Construction on Big Bend 3, which includes 56.3 miles of primary border wall, is scheduled to begin in August, while Big Bend 2 will add 68.2 miles of primary border wall beginning in September. Combined, the three projects will create approximately 171.9 miles of new primary border wall.
Big Bend 4, which runs alongside much of Big Bend National Park, will not include a primary border wall. Instead, it will add patrol roads, surveillance technology and approximately 17 miles of vehicle barriers, according to CBP’s Smart Wall Map.
Additional portions of Big Bend 4 and the 156.6-mile Big Bend 5 segment will also rely on vehicle barriers rather than a primary wall system.
Together, those segments cover roughly 173.6 miles across the Alpine, Sanderson and Comstock areas of responsibility, The Center Square reported.
As part of the Big Bend 2 project, portions of the border wall will connect to Big Bend Ranch State Park at two locations.
Project officials said those sections will be built near the Rio Grande along the base of the park in areas that are not considered heavily used recreational sites.
