1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to urge Texas state leadership to oppose the destruction of the Big Bend region and surrounding borderlands for unnecessary physical border barriers. I have previously made clear that I oppose physical barriers in this area—not only within Big Bend National Park, but throughout the surrounding borderlands, including the region extending toward Presidio. These landscapes are among Texas’s most unique and irreplaceable natural resources. Once they are blasted apart, altered, and permanently damaged, they cannot be restored. I am deeply disappointed that state leadership has not done more to protect these lands and advocate for responsible border policies that respect both Texas taxpayers and Texas’s natural heritage. Texas should not allow some of our most treasured landscapes to be sacrificed for a project that raises serious questions about effectiveness, cost, and basic logic. The proposed spending of billions of taxpayer dollars to destroy mountains, canyons, and remote desert terrain in order to build roads, access routes, and vehicle barriers is difficult to justify. The logic is fundamentally backwards. The natural terrain of Big Bend and the surrounding borderlands already creates significant obstacles to movement. Yet the proposed approach is to remove those natural obstacles by blasting through the landscape and creating new access routes—only to then build barriers intended to restrict movement. If the goal is to make the border more difficult to cross, why are we creating roads and pathways through areas that are currently difficult to access? How does making the landscape more accessible help achieve the stated purpose? At minimum, these questions deserve serious answers before billions of dollars are spent and permanent damage is done. Texans deserve border policies that are effective, evidence-based, and fiscally responsible. We also deserve leaders who will protect the natural treasures that belong to all Texans. I urge you to oppose unnecessary destruction of the Big Bend region and to demand accountability, transparency, and evidence that any proposed border infrastructure will actually accomplish its stated goals before allowing irreversible damage to Texas lands. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.