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The Department of Homeland Security has waived dozens of environmental, public health and historic preservation laws to speed construction of border barriers and roads along the Rio Grande from the Big Bend region to Lake Amistad.
The waiver, signed by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, took effect July 27 and applies to a project area spanning parts of the Border Patrol’s Big Bend and Del Rio sectors. It covers physical barriers, roads, staging areas, drainage systems, lighting, cameras and sensors but does not specify what will be built where.
The project area stretches across a remote, sparsely developed section of the Rio Grande, from the canyon country of Big Bend to the area around Lake Amistad.
Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the latest action expands the geographic reach of earlier waivers and removes environmental protections from a larger stretch of the border.
“This whole stretch from the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in Big Bend National Park, down to Lake Amistad, has not had those waivers issued yet,” Jordahl said. “So now, at this point, our nation’s most important environmental laws, like the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, those laws are off the books. They don’t apply.”
The waiver also includes the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, National Historic Preservation Act and Wilderness Act, among many others. It waives related regulations and legal requirements.
CBP has said its current plans do not include a 30-foot border wall inside Big Bend National Park. Instead, the agency has described plans there for vehicle barriers, surveillance technology and patrol-road work.
Plans are different in nearby Big Bend Ranch State Park. A CBP map published in July showed about two miles of proposed 30-foot wall segments along the western edge of the state park, though the agency said the plans remained under development. The map and the agency’s descriptions of construction in the region have changed repeatedly.
Jordahl said contractors and surveyors have recently been seen in the national park and aircraft have been conducting geospatial imaging over the area.
“We fully expect, based on what we’re seeing on the ground, that construction in the national park is imminent,” he said.
Homeland Security said the region qualifies as an area of high illegal entry, citing more than 89,000 apprehensions in the Big Bend Sector between fiscal years 2021 and 2025.
More recent data show apprehensions there have fallen sharply. The agency recorded 3,096 apprehensions in fiscal 2025, down 37% from the previous year and 74% from fiscal 2023.
The Center for Biological Diversity is already suing the federal government over earlier waivers affecting Big Bend National Park and areas farther west. The group is waiting for a hearing and may also challenge the latest waiver.
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to TPR’s request for additional details about planned construction.
