A proposal to bar the Trump administration from building a border wall in Big Bend National Park died Wednesday in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, after the GOP-controlled panel rejected the idea along party lines.
Local Opposition
Local residents, ranchers, and environmentalists in the Big Bend area and across Texas have expressed fierce opposition to the wall, holding bipartisan rallies in Texas and Washington to press the case that the wild and remote landscape should not be sullied by metal bollards.
The condemnation has come from Republicans including Brandon Herrera, the Republican congressional candidate running to represent the area. Herrera spoke at an Austin rally against the wall proposal in April, ticking through the spectrum of opposition — from both parties to sheriffs to tourists — before concluding that “nobody wants this wall in Big Bend.”
Proposal Details
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, tried to attach the wall-banning language to the House bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border operations, for fiscal year 2027. The amendment would have also applied to the Secure America Act, Republicans’ just-passed party-line bill to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
But all Republicans in attendance, including Texans John Carter, Michael Cloud, and Jake Ellzey, stood against the amendment in Wednesday’s committee vote, which killed the proposal by a 26-34 margin. All present Democrats voted in support.
During debate, Cuellar noted the Trump administration has been able to push border crossings to historic lows without new border wall construction in those areas, and that the areas he was looking to protect from fencing have low traffic regardless.
Border Security
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nevada, said during debate that eliminating the department’s ability to put up a border wall in the exempted areas represented a risk to border security in Texas.
Homeland Security officials have moved forward with plans to construct border barriers in Big Bend, and questions remain about what technology the department will use. The department waived environmental laws to authorize the construction of road and physical barrier infrastructure in the park, and has awarded a contract expressly for a border wall in Big Bend.
Original reporting: San Antonio Report — read the source article.
