Border barrier

So this, this is gonna be an ongoing process in Texas where decisions are gonna be made over the course of the next year about what is the right pathway forward.

All right, one more issue here in the state of Texas that is symbolic of a larger conversation across the United States, and that's Trump's border wall.

He's run on this twice, building a border wall to stop illegal immigration from Mexico and from Central America.

Um, there is controversy in this state about whether or not to build a border wall in Big Bend State and National Park, and it's not just a left-right issue.

There's a lot of people who vote Republican and voted for President Trump say, this is not where we need a border wall.

This is an issue on their minds about private property rights and weighing costs and benefits.

So where are you on building a border wall through Big Bend?

So I've had the opportunity to talk with Secretary Mullen on multiple occasions about building a border wall, and we've talked about how they are building as much border wall mileage as they can.

Right, so, you know, you might be able to hear some construction work behind me.

I'm right next to the border wall road, maybe 100 yards away.

There is a barbed wire fence that's blocking off access to this road.

and these big yellow earth movers that are driving up and down the road you can also see these uh parked border patrol vehicles border patrol agents walking up and down the road alongside contractors and of course uh the big steel bollard wall this huge black uh steel wall you can see snaking its way uh up the uh horizon uh very close to where the old uh uh, the old cottonwood that was chopped down earlier this week, uh, used to stand.

They said that they could not remain.

Environmental groups and activists tried to, you know, write letters to the DHS requesting that they, you know, reconsider or, you know, have environmental monitors present and, you know, pointed out that these are trees that are used by migratory birds for nests But in the end, you know, they were still slated for removal.

So even though it is a grove of just these four, it really has become very symbolic of I think what a lot of activists here in Arizona and border-wide feel is just this sort of unstoppable border wall effort despite, you know, despite public opposition to it.

It should also be noted that CBP right now is asking for public comment in the Tucson sector, which includes this area, about border wall construction that they've already started to build.

Uh, I would say that, uh, 100% of the time the Supreme Court's gonna rule in favor of big oil, and they will eviscerate any protections that, uh, local, uh, or state jurisdictions may have for, um, climate change suits or others, and leave it all to the feds, and you know what that means.

And finally, uh, if you ever watch the movie The Treasure of Sierra Madre, you will appreciate the reference, uh, "We don't need no stinkin' wall." Well, a federal judge on Friday barred the Trump administration from building a US-Mexico border barrier through Big Bend National Park.

Um, so this comes weeks after the, uh, Customs and Border had paused it briefly, and now it looks like it's gonna be paused permanently or at least a bit longer.

And do we need a wall through Big Bend? Of course we don't need a wall through Big Bend.

The Center for Biological Diversity expects the administration to issue a formal non-endangerment finding and believes it won't survive a court challenge.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the end of their pause on the construction of border barriers inside Big Bend National Park this week, which will allow work to resume after much pushback from local communities, conservation groups, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle.

As we often do, we turn to Bob Cromnocker, chair of Keep Big Bend Wild and the superintendent of Big Bend National Park from 2018 to 2023.

Border Security already works in Big Bend National Park without the need for any intrusive construction.