Border

Cattle from Mexico have been barred from the United States for most the past year to prevent the parasite from entering. Ranchers in Sonora say this method was a mistake.

Public records show Ryan Seiders, co-founder of global lifestyle and outdoor brand YETI, is one of the owners of the Moody Bennett Ranch in the state's Big Bend region. The ranch, which lies in the path of the Trump administration's planned border wall, has been involved in construction activities getting underway in the region.

Repairs to vital infrastructure were abruptly put on hold with little explanation, impacting the park's most popular area.

Since news first surfaced late last year that border walls could be built for the first time in the Big Bend region of West Texas, the story has been marked by shifting, unannounced changes and few clearly communicated details from the Trump administration.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have started meeting with Big Bend area landowners about the prospect of border walls on their land. Landowners say they're concerned about flood risks and the destruction of archeological sites.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection updated its map of planned border wall projects to add vehicle barriers and patrol roads to portions of Big Bend National Park on Tuesday. It's not clear if the barriers would be temporary or permanent.

A West Texas river guide and church preservation group, along with a national advocacy group, argue in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the administration illegally bypassed a range of environmental protection laws as it plans a 175-mile stretch of border wall in the state's Big Bend region.

Jeff Davis County Judge Curtis Evans says he "shut down" a construction crew that was working as a subcontractor for Barnard Construction on improving a rugged dirt road that leads to the Rio Grande. Barnard is the Montana firm that was recently awarded nearly $2 billion to build border walls in the Big Bend region.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week quietly updated its "Smart Wall" map to remove two "primary border barrier system" projects in the Big Bend area, including one recently slated for Big Bend National Park. Other projects are still listed for parts of Presidio, Jeff Davis and Hudspeth counties.

The Trump administration's "Smart Wall" plan was expanded in recent days to include the potential for border wall building within Big Bend National Park, according to a map of border projects from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Big Bend area residents have started organizing against the plan.