Border

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.

Yesterday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his support and funding for a new Electromagnetic Pulse testing site and cybersecurity enhancement at Texas Tech University. Our reporter Charley Maranville has more on the $149 million grant. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving to waive environmental regulations to speed up border wall building in the Big Bend region. Marfa Public Radio’s Travis Bubenik reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection has declined to say where exactly physical walls will be built.

Border wall projects could soon move forward in the remote Big Bend region of West Texas as part of the Trump administration's sweeping "Smart Wall" plan for the entire U.S.-Mexico border, according to officials and local residents who say construction firms have started contacting people in the area about the project.

Investors weigh President Donald J. Trump's decision to impose more tariffs on Mexican-made goods. At the same time they're concerned Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's push to overhaul the country's judiciary may create legal uncertainty for companies in Mexico.

Inflation has fallen slightly but grocery store prices are still much higher than they were before the pandemic. And that has many Americans looking for ways to save money. Along the U.S. southern border some families find savings by shopping in Mexico.

Texas officials suggested the federal government could pick up construction. However, during President Trump's first term, his administration built about one-third of what the state was able to put up in the same amount of time.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would pause his executive orders on the tariffs for one month after Mexico agreed to deploy 10,000 troops to reinforce its border to cut the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S. Canada's government committed to also strengthen its fight on fentanyl flowing into the U.S.

Spc. Bishop E. Evans, a 22-year-old field artilleryman from Arlington, joined the Texas Army National Guard in 2019.

Since July, the Lubbock Private Defenders Office has been tasked with coordinating attorneys to represent migrants in criminal trespass cases brought through Operation Lonestar. Their work has challenged some of the operation's narrative, and helped some seek asylum requests.

Today, the border reopens to “non-essential travel” for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. After twenty months of restrictions, fully vaccinated Mexicans will now be able to enter the U.S. to shop or visit friends and family.