MARFA, Texas — Construction has started on part of the Trump administration’s planned 175-mile border wall through the Big Bend region, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBP’s online map showed Thursday that a segment of the project in Hudspeth County had reached the “under construction” stage. The agency has not said exactly when work began.
The project, known as “Big Bend 1,” covers about 47 miles of a planned 30-foot steel wall stretching from an area south of Sierra Blanca to Big Bend Ranch State Park in Presidio County. CBP’s map showed no construction on the two planned wall segments in Presidio County.
The development came days after a coalition of West Texas landowners and the nonprofit Conserve Big Bend sued the Trump administration in federal court. The plaintiffs argue that the administration illegally waived federal environmental requirements for the project and are seeking an injunction to halt border wall construction across the region.
The lawsuit also seeks to stop separate projects involving steel vehicle barriers and roads inside Big Bend National Park, where construction remains paused amid other legal challenges.
Environmental advocate Laiken Jordahl, whose Center for Biological Diversity joined the legal challenges, said he and other activists visited the Big Bend 1 project area earlier this month. They did not see wall panels installed but observed extensive preparation work, including a large staging area, cleared land, concrete plants, earth-moving equipment and a large water tank.
Clara Bensen, a board member of Conserve Big Bend, said the construction activity shows the project has moved beyond planning.
“This development will likely be reflected in the legal argument the landowner lawsuit will make,” Bensen said.
The Trump administration has awarded more than $7 billion in federal contracts for border wall and related infrastructure projects across the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector.
The region has historically recorded some of the lowest numbers of migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border. CBP data showed Big Bend Sector apprehensions accounted for about 1.3% of all southern border apprehensions in fiscal year 2025.
