Trump administration waives laws for Big Bend border project

The Trump administration has moved to waive more than two dozen federal environmental and historic preservation laws to expedite the construction of border security infrastructure in and around Big Bend National Park in Texas. The action, formalized in a notice published in the Federal Register on June -9, 2026, grants Customs and Border Protection broad authority to build barriers, roads, and surveillance systems within the protected wilderness area.

The Department of Homeland Security notice waives key statutes including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Officials said the waivers are necessary for the expeditious construction of barriers and roads. The move applies to a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border encompassing Big Bend National Park and adjacent Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Customs and Border Protection has stated it does not plan to build a 30-foot-tall steel border wall within the parks. Instead, the agency’s current proposal, known as the “Big Bend 4” project, calls for approximately 17 miles of non-contiguous, four-foot-tall vehicle barriers in four locations, along with...