I have lived most of my life along the Texas/Mexico border, and over half of it in the Big Bend. I currently live 20 miles from the Mexican border in South Presidio County. Anyone who has seen the terrain in the Chihuahuan Desert along the border knows that a wall is unnecessary. There are a handful of tiny towns scattered across this vast region, many more than 50 miles from the next. People die in the desert on a regular basis.
Big Bend National Park and Bend Bend Ranch State Park are among the crown jewels of the national and state parks systems. Many residents of the area are dependent on visitors to the parks and the untouched wilderness experiences they offer for their living. The walls, barriers, and patrol roads would destroy all this.
175 miles of 30′ wall are planned west of the parks in the Presidio Valley. Plots of land in the valley are typically long and narrow, to allow maximum access to the Rio Grande, vital for farming and ranching. Many landowners have sited their homes on the riverbank. These folks face losing both their homes and their livelihood.
To understand the sense of outrage the residents of the Big Bend are experiencing, you must realize the costs of living here. Distances are long, gasoline and groceries are expensive, and anything beyond basic medical care is unavailable. It is among the last raggedy tail ends of the American frontier left. And the federal government is set on an unnecessary plan to solve a nonexistent problem with corrupt no-bid contracts, permanent ecological damage to a pristine wilderness, and the destruction of the local economy. Folks feel violated to their very core. It goes way beyond politics.
Randall Cater
Shafter
Thank you to Sam Karas for her June 12, 2026 article, “‘We already lost it once’: Eminent domain returns to the Big Bend.”
When we first came to Big Bend National Park from Houston in the early 1980’s, it was because a friend kept insisting we needed to do so. He was so right! We spent 3 weeks in the area, fell in love with the land, then fell in love with the people. It was magic. We returned as often as possible and bought our first piece of land in 1987, with a dream to live in Big Bend. Two years later, we made the big jump and started a new chapter in our lives. We’ve never looked back and know it was the best decision we ever made.
From childhood, I loved reading books about pioneers. When we moved here, I read every book I could find on the settlers in the area and marveled at their tenacity. I can only imagine how hard it was for them to have their land taken away by eminent domain, and be forced to leave their homes. Who would have thought current landowners could find themselves in the same situation in 2026! The difference now, however, is that land is not being taken as part of “Texas gift to the nation,” but will be ceded to Mexico because of another vanity project of this administration.
This is not about border security. The sheriffs of five counties, along with county judges, agree that we already have a secure border using efficient modern technology, minimally invasive that does not destroy the beauty of the area or take away our access to the Rio Grande. Fortunately for us, our land is not subject to being taken away by imminent domain. For those whose land is in jeopardy, I hope you will read all Sam’s article and do as Maggie Smith would have said, “dig in and fight.” The majority of your community is doing everything in our power to keep this from happening.
For a small minority of the community who have decided to assist in the destruction of our way of life by enabling those coming here to try to build this unpopular wall, I don’t know your circumstances and I cannot see into your heart. I can only hope that you have assessed the long-term damage that will be done, not only to your community, but to yourself as well. Selling aggregate, clearing land for a man camp, comes with a price. In the end, it will be between you and your creator.
Barbara Hines
Terlingua
