1. United States
2. R.I.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge Congress to act immediately to prevent irreversible damage to Big Bend National Park and the surrounding Big Bend region from border-barrier, road, and surveillance construction. Heavy equipment has now entered Big Bend National Park, and land disturbance and vegetation removal have begun while the full scope of the federal government’s plans remains unclear to the public. This is the critical moment for congressional oversight—before temporary construction decisions become permanent damage to one of America’s most iconic national parks. I respectfully request Congress take four immediate actions. First, require an immediate pause on construction and land disturbance within Big Bend National Park until Congress and the public receive complete project plans and an independent assessment of necessity, alternatives, and environmental impacts. Second, prohibit the use of federal appropriations for new border walls, vehicle barriers, patrol roads, staging areas, or related construction within Big Bend National Park unless specifically authorized by Congress. Border-security funding should not function as a blanket authorization to permanently alter national park lands without explicit legislative approval. Third, require DHS and Customs and Border Protection to disclose all project materials related to the Big Bend-sector construction effort, including contracts, maps, costs, environmental and cultural resource reviews, road alignments, vegetation-clearing plans, and surveillance infrastructure. Congress should require CBP to justify, at a location-specific level, why intrusive construction is necessary and why less destructive alternatives—such as existing infrastructure, remote surveillance, personnel deployment, and the region’s natural terrain—are insufficient. Fourth, reform the broad waiver authority under §102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, as expanded by the REAL ID Act of 2005. No executive agency should have unilateral authority to waive environmental, historic preservation, wildlife, water, and public land laws without meaningful public input or effective judicial review. The situation in Big Bend demonstrates the consequences of this authority. Federal agencies have waived major statutory protections to facilitate construction in a national park. When laws designed to protect parks, endangered species, cultural resources, and public lands can be set aside administratively, Congress must reassess the scope of delegated authority. Border security and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. The federal government can secure the border while still requiring transparency, fiscal accountability, environmental review, and serious consideration of less destructive alternatives. Big Bend National Park belongs to the American people and to future generations. Once desert ecosystems, wildlife corridors, archaeological sites, and undeveloped landscapes are altered or destroyed, no amount of after-the-fact oversight can restore them. I urge Congress to act now: pause construction, restrict appropriations, compel full disclosure, and reform the §102 waiver authority before further irreversible harm occurs.