Groups Back Lawsuit to Stop Border Destruction at Big Bend National Park

Today, the National Parks Conservation Association and Sierra Club along with its Lone Star Chapter filed an amicus brief supporting the Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit to stop construction of a border barrier and related infrastructure in and around Big Bend National Park.

Both organizations are represented by Earthjustice.

Big Bend National Park protects one of the world’s most biologically rich and diverse desert ecosystems, where the Rio Grande serves as a lifeline for fish, wildlife, and riverside habitat while supporting recreation, tourism, and the health and well-being of nearby communities. The protections that Congress gave the Rio Grande have been in place for nearly half a century. According to UNESCO, the park is home to more “types of birds, bats, butterflies, ants, and scorpions than any other national park in the United States.”

The groups’ filing urges the court to halt border project construction before bulldozing, roads, barriers, and related infrastructure cause irreversible harm to this nationally treasured landscape.

“We’re backing this legal fight to stop further destruction and ensure the damage already done is repaired,” said Dave Cortez, director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter. “Big Bend is one of the most extraordinary landscapes in the country, and Trump’s border construction project has already scarred the land, damaged wildlife habitat, and disrupted the experience of visiting this national park. Big Bend deserves lasting protection from a project that never should have broken ground in the first place.”

The Center for Biological Diversity filed for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction on August 17, 2026, to halt border infrastructure construction that would cause immediate and irreversible damage to Big Bend National Park.

“Big Bend National Park, the gift that Texas gave the nation, is a wild desert landscape that belongs to us all. As a national park, Big Bend is meant to be protected under the highest standard of the law, not bulldozed for harmful border infrastructure,” said Cary Dupuy, National Parks Conservation Association Texas Regional Director. “What message are we sending to future generations if we do not stop this destructive project for good? We are filing this brief because it’s time to stand up for Big Bend.”

The underlying lawsuit challenges the Secretary of Homeland Security’s waivers under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”) for the Big Bend Sector along the U.S. southern border in Texas. These waivers suspend a half dozen environmental statutes to allow construction of the border wall and other infrastructure without review — effectively amounting to the Trump administration repealing the laws without Congressional approval.

“The Trump administration cannot bulldoze through a National Park and rewrite the laws that protect Big Bend and the wild and scenic Rio Grande,” says Meghan Riley, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “Big Bend National Park was protected for a reason: it is regionally, nationally, and globally important for many species, and we are going to fight to protect it.”