1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Halt the border construction at Big Bend National Park now. Bulldozers are already tearing up ground at the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon — one of the most visited stretches of the Rio Grande — and CBP has been actively misleading the public about what's happening. That's not acceptable, and I need you to act. This construction makes no sense on the merits. Immigration authorities made only 100 to 125 arrests annually inside the park in 2023 and 2024, and that number has since dropped further. DHS waived dozens of federal environmental and cultural protection laws to rush this through, and CBP has repeatedly changed its story about what the bulldozers are even doing. Even Senator Cornyn wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Mullin last week asking him to pause construction. The bipartisan opposition is real — and it's being ignored. Big Bend is 800,000 acres of irreplaceable Chihuahuan desert. Once that canyon is bulldozed, it's gone. Block this construction, demand CBP restore the environmental review process, and hold DHS accountable for violating its own June agreement to provide 30 days' notice before breaking ground.