Native American tribes, environmentalists, and local residents in several states oppose construction of a border wall.
Published September 14, 2026
A group of landowners, ranchers, businesses and nonprofit organizations has sued President Donald Trump’s administration to halt construction of a wall along the Mexican border in South Texas’ remote Big Bend region.
David Keller, an archaeologist and historian who specializes in the Big Bend and lives in the area, said at a press conference Monday announcing the lawsuit that Trump officials “had no idea how much we love this place and were woefully unprepared for the hornet’s nest they had caused.”
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“For us, Big Bend is not a blank spot on the map,” he said. “It’s our home.”
The lawsuit was filed by Conserve Big Bend and six landowners with support from dozens of others along the border.
The move comes as the Trump administration ramps up a $46 billion effort to outfit the roughly 3,219 km (2,000 miles) border with 9-meter (30-foot) steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers and technology to keep out smugglers and migrants.
In Arizona, federal authorities are building border infrastructure that they say is unwanted and unnecessary, even though it cuts through land belonging to the Tohono O’odham Nation.
In Texas, the effort faces numerous lawsuits and bipartisan opposition from sheriffs, elected officials, tour guides, environmental groups and landowners.
As part of the wall effort, the administration has waived numerous regulations and laws aimed at protecting the environment, archaeology, and wildlife, citing an urgent need to protect the border in what the Department of Homeland Security calls “high illegal entry” areas.
But in a lawsuit announced Monday, plaintiffs argue that’s not an accurate description of the Big Bend region. They cite past statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that show how fewer people cross the border in the Big Bend compared to other areas along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Big Bend border is approximately 805 km (500 miles) long, about one-quarter of the total length of the Mexican border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. But only about 1% of arrests were made in this area, according to the complaint.
