Texas Landowners and Conservation Groups File Lawsuit to Block Border Wall in Big Bend Region

Indigenous groups, environmentalists, and locals in several states have opposed the border wall construction.

Published On 14 Sep 202614 Sep 2026

A coalition of landowners, ranchers, businesses, and a nonprofit organization has filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Donald Trump to halt construction of a border wall in the remote Big Bend area of southern Texas, along the country’s border with Mexico.

Trump officials “were woefully unprepared for the hornet’s nest they stirred up because they had no idea how much we love this place,” said David Keller, an archaeologist and historian specializing in the Big Bend region, during a news conference on Monday announcing the legal challenge.

“For us, the Big Bend is not an empty place on the map,” he added. “It is our home.”

The lawsuit was brought by Conserve Big Bend and six landowners, with the backing of dozens of additional individuals living along the border.

The legal action comes as the Trump administration intensifies a $46 billion initiative to fortify the approximately 3,219 km (2,000-mile) border with a network of 9-metre (30-foot) steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and surveillance technology aimed at deterring smugglers and undocumented migrants.

In Arizona, federal authorities are continuing construction of border infrastructure even as it cuts through land held by the Tohono O’odham Nation, an Indigenous tribe that has repeatedly stated its opposition to the barrier, calling it unnecessary.

In Texas, the project has faced numerous lawsuits and bipartisan resistance from sheriffs, elected officials, tour guides, environmental organizations, and private landowners.

As part of its construction push, the administration has waived a range of regulations and statutes designed to safeguard the environment, archaeological sites, and wildlife, citing an urgent need to secure the border in areas designated by the US Department of Homeland Security as hotspots of “high illegal entry.”

However, the plaintiffs argue that this characterization does not hold true for the Big Bend region. They reference historical data from US Customs and Border Protection demonstrating the remarkably low volume of border crossings in Big Bend compared with other stretches of the US-Mexico frontier.

Big Bend encompasses roughly 805 km (500 miles) of border — about one quarter of the total US-Mexico boundary from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico — yet the region accounted for only about one percent of arrests, according to the lawsuit.

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