Senator John Cornyn has come out in opposition to border security efforts within Big Bend National Park, a position similarly held by Democrat State Representative James Talarico, who is currently involved in a Senatorial campaign.
“Recently a bipartisan group of Texas border sheriffs and county judges, private landowners, and the Big Bend Park advocates have raised significant concerns about DHS’ proposed construction of border barriers in Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park,” Cornyn wrote in his letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “My 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 as a natural barrier that limits large-scale movements.”
Cornyn expressed constituents’ concerns that a physical wall would be “accompanies by lighting systems, access roads, and maintenance corridors” which would “(1) ruin the beauty, landscape, and wildlife of the park, (2) threaten culturally significant Native American sites, (3) disrupt wildlife migration, (4) limit access to the Rio Grande River, and (5) significantly harm the local economy as tourism is a major economic driver for the region.”
Talarico has raised similar concerns about the possibility of a physical border in Big Bend National Park. “God already built a wall through Big Bend — it’s called the Chisos Mountains,” he wrote on X last week. “We don’t need to give billions of our tax dollars to out of state vendors. We don’t need to desecrate this sacred land. We don’t need this useless, disgraceful, corrupt Big Bend border wall.”
The Big Bend Sector of U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously launched a vehicle-stopping system called the GTAB 350. Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling called the system a game-changer for both public and agent safety. “This system allows us to stop and contain threats in a controlled environment before they become dangerous pursuits,” he said. The system is designed to stop vehicles attempting to flee at high speeds before entering busy highway areas.
