Rio Grande rage: Why are Texans just saying no to Trump's border wall?
Rio Grande rage: Why are Texans just saying no to Trump's border wall?
Lauren Villagran, USA TODAYSat, February 28, 2026 at 1:29 AM UTC
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A bride in a frothy white gown. A groom holding a ring. An endless desert landscape of canyons against the open sky.
Now imagine, says the Texas wedding photographer Anna Claire Beasley, construction noise, bulldozed roads and a steel border fence as a backdrop.
Bipartisan opposition to the Trump administration's plans to construct a border wall through the Big Bend National Park in West Texas is growing, and the concerns are coming from business owners like Beasley; hunters and outdoor enthusiasts; local residents and both Republican and Democrat elected officials.
Beasley, based in Terlinqua, says she leads couples into the park for "adventure elopements" that capture a Texan spirit of "carving your own path," which the landscape reflects. A petition she started on Change.org opposing the wall has garnered roughly 40,000 signatures in a week's time.
"We are seeing people from all sides of the political spectrum who are saying no to the wall," she said. "We rely on tourism dollars to make a living and live out here. There is a real fear that if construction proceeds, we'll have to leave."
President Donald Trump has been promising a "big, beautiful wall" at the southern border since he launched his first successful presidential campaign in 2015. He delivered 87 miles of new border fencing in his first term, according to an analysis by Adam Isacson, who studies border security.
More than 700 miles of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border are fenced off, Isacson reports, barriers that were built across Democrat and Republican administrations. Sections built in rural, remote areas have rarely generated much public outcry, in part because the regions are sparsely populated, and conservative ranchers have often supported the construction.
But the Big Bend – rural and sparsely populated though it is – is a big draw for tourism in West Texas.
Big game hunters, backpackers, river runners, national park visitors, artists and musicians all make the long trek into Big Bend National Park for the wilderness, the wildlands and the solitude. Justin McFarland, a Texas Hill Country educator who describes his politics as "nonpartisan and common-sense," shot a music video there and visits every year.
"There are so many people invested in it," he said. It's "prime wilderness, an area that is pretty much untouched. Building a wall would do irreparable damage."
Republican Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell said he began hearing from constituents, including McFarland, who told him they believed the border wall in Big Bend was "a bad idea." He's heard from business owners worried about a drop in tourism and property owners who have begun receiving eminent domain notices from the federal government.
Virdell, whose 53rd District lies north of the Big Bend region, supports Trump and border security. But he also describes himself as an avid outdoorsman. "That is a natural, pristine area," he said, with wildlife that depends on access to the Rio Grande.
"As a Republican it's also our duty to protect our land," he said. "I would love for (the Trump administration) to say, 'Let's hold off and have some more conversations.' Hopefully cooler heads will prevail."
Dark skies, few 'unlawful entries'
The National Park Service calls Big Bend a place "where night skies are dark as coal and rivers carve temple-like canyons in ancient limestone." Locals call it one of the last truly wild places in Texas, where quail, elk and desert bighorn sheep roam.
The Trump administration has suspended the usual environmental studies that would assess impacts of a fence in the area.
In a Feb. 17 notice posted to the Federal Register, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived 28 separate statutes including the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act for construction of "physical barriers and roads" in Big Bend National Park.
Noem cited "an acute and immediate need to construct additional physical barriers and roads" along the border "to prevent unlawful entries into the United States" and control drug trafficking.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection told USA TODAY the entire 517-mile stretch of Border Patrol's Big Bend Sector "is scheduled to receive new infrastructure or upgrades," according to an emailed response to questions.
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"CBP has and will continue to coordinate with stakeholders, and other federal agencies, during the planning and construction process to minimize impacts where physical barriers will be constructed to the greatest extent practicable, while still meeting the Border Patrol's operational requirements," the statement said.
The border barrier "project area" defined in the Federal Register notice includes 175 miles along the Rio Grande, including riverfront in Big Bend Ranch State Park and some of the region's most popular views, trails and river runs, according to the Big Bend Sentinel newspaper.
Border Patrol's sprawling Big Bend Sector covers nearly a quarter of the Southwest border but boasts one of the lowest numbers of illegal entries. The region's rugged terrain, marked by mountains and steep canyons, has long been a deterrent to migration.
Border-wide, illegal crossings have plummeted under the Trump administration. But the numbers in Big Bend were comparatively small even when illegal traffic was higher: In 2023, when El Paso Sector reported 50,000-plus migrant encounters per month, Big Bend Sector reported fewer than 1,500.
In January, Border Patrol apprehended 151 migrants in Big Bend Sector.
Lawmakers 'need to ... talk to us'
Polly Peters, a retired investment manager, inherited hundreds of acres in Big Bend after her father's passing. She supports Trump, border security and a border wall in some areas – but not in the Big Bend.
"They could put cameras up. There is technology," she said. "Let's use it."
She's one of the landowners who received a notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, indicating the federal government wants to negotiate a price and take part of her land – or will "initiate the eminent domain/condemnation process," according to documents reviewed by USA TODAY.
She describes the land with reverence: "a gorgeous mountain that stretches forever... beautiful cliffs, draws and valleys covered in cactus, oudad and elk all over the place."
Lawmakers "need to get down there," she said. "They need to come down and talk to us, to the people who are living and making a living down there."
A wedding on 'protected land'
Katy Crump and Chase McMillan hired Beasley to shoot their intimate, destination wedding in Big Bend. They had visited the park early in their relationship and the Dallas couple knew they wanted to go back.
"It's my favorite part of Texas," Crump said. McMillan added, "It gets under your soul."
Katy Clump and Chase McMillan on their wedding day in the Big Bend.
Beasley helped them pick a location along Big Bend's Hoodoos Balanced Rock Trail. They got married at the golden hour and stayed until late to shoot photos, their shadows beneath a stream of stars.
Had there been a border wall in the backdrop? Crump says they wouldn't have returned to marry there.
"The thing that makes that area special is that it's all natural," she said.
"The whole thing is that it's protected land," McMillan said. "Maybe the only thing that we all agree on is that that's sacred, you know?"
Lauren Villagran covers the border and can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com or on Signal at laurenvillagran.57.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rio Grande rage: Why are Texans just saying no to Trump's border wall?
Source: “AOL Breaking”
