Landowners in Texas ask court to stop Trump border wall | Donald Trump News
Opposition Mounts Against Border Wall Construction in Texas’ Big Bend Region
Published September 14, 2026
A coalition of landowners, ranchers, businesses, and a non-profit organization has initiated legal action against the Trump administration, seeking to halt the construction of a border wall in the remote Big Bend area of Texas. The lawsuit, announced at a press conference on Monday, reflects widespread discontent among local stakeholders regarding the border security initiative.
David Keller, an archaeologist and historian specializing in the Big Bend region, expressed the community’s deep connection to the area. “For us, the Big Bend is not an empty place on the map,” Keller said. “It is our home.”
The lawsuit was brought forth by the organization Conserve Big Bend alongside six landowners, and it has garnered support from numerous individuals along the border. This legal challenge comes as the Trump administration intensifies its $46 billion initiative to install a series of 30-foot steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and surveillance technology along the approximately 2,000-mile border with Mexico.
In Arizona, federal officials are proceeding with construction projects that impact land belonging to the Tohono O’odham Nation, an Indigenous tribe that has expressed opposition to the border barrier, deeming it unnecessary.
In Texas, the border wall initiative has encountered significant resistance, facing a multitude of lawsuits and bipartisan pushback from sheriffs, elected officials, tour guides, environmental groups, and landowners.
Amidst this legal turmoil, the administration has waived various regulations and statutes designed to safeguard the environment, archaeological sites, and wildlife, citing an urgent need for border security in areas deemed to be “high illegal entry” zones by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
However, the plaintiffs in the recent lawsuit contend that such a designation is inaccurate for the Big Bend region. They refer to historical data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which illustrates that crossings in this area are minimal compared to other sectors of the border.
Though Big Bend comprises about 500 miles of border, it accounted for roughly 1 percent of the arrests made along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, according to the lawsuit. This statistic underscores the community’s argument against the need for extensive border fortifications in their region.
