Texas: CBP moves forward with Big Bend Border contracts while diverting 30-ft. wall around Nat’l Park
OAN Staff Addie Davis
4:28 PM – Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Installation is set to begin this month on sections of the federal government’s “Smart Wall” system in the Big Bend Sector along the Texas-Mexico border.
Dubbed a “Smart Wall” by the Trump administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the multi-billion dollar project integrates physical barriers with advanced digital surveillance, artificial intelligence (AI), and automated data networks.
Over the past few weeks, flatbed trucks have begun transporting and staging construction materials just outside Big Bend National Park, according to reporting from the Washington Examiner. CBP confirmed to the outlet that panel installation and early-stage infrastructure work are slated to launch this month, focusing initially on the sector’s Marfa and Van Horn areas.
“A Smart Wall with 30-foot-high barriers, advanced detection technology, cameras and new and improved roads are planned for the Sierra Blanca, Presidio, Marfa and Van Horn Station Areas,” a CPB spokesperson said in a statement, per the outlet.
“Border Wall panel installation is anticipated to begin in July in the Marfa and Van Horn Areas,” the spokesperson continued. “In other areas of Big Bend Sector, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is implementing a border security strategy that leverages advanced technology and the natural terrain barriers.”
The construction of the wall and border security elements is receiving community pushback, the Examiner reported. One landowner told the outlet he received plans showing the intent to put a wall through his property and block his access to the river.
CBP reported that in fiscal year 2023, nearly 12,000 apprehensions for illegal border crossings were recorded in the sector, which contains roughly a quarter of the southwest border. However, in fiscal year 2025, the numbers drastically declined to 3,096.
According to CBP, the “Smart Wall” is “comprised of a steel bollard wall or waterborne barrier, along with roads, detection technology, cameras and lighting and in some cases a secondary wall — creating an enforcement zone.”
“The Smart Wall provides the Border Patrol with both the impedance and denial, domain awareness and the access and mobility required to secure the border,” the agency stated on its website.
In a mid-June statement, CBP had announced that it was “planning to construct and maintain vehicle barrier system and roads” in Brewster County, the largest county in Texas which encompasses the Big Bend National Park and some of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. The “Smart Wall Map” shows that border security within the Big Bend parks include technology and patrol roads without a wall, as well as vehicle barrier systems in some locations.
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