The Trump administration is rolling back environmental protections that would allow it to quickly construct a physical barrier across Big Bend National Park.
The administration has said that the president’s long-promised border wall would not include a physical wall in Big Bend National Park. But skeptics see a notice that the Department of Homeland Security published on the Federal Register earlier this week, waiving more than two dozen historic and environmental preservation laws, as a sign it might do so anyway.
“I’ve been to Big Bend, and I want to protect that area,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who introduced a proposal to ban a border wall in the national park earlier this week, told NOTUS. “It’s a state and national treasure.”