Nov 10, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Haleemah Atobiloye (she/her) | Program and Communications Strategist | haleemaha@cehn.org | (202) 350-1372
The Rio Grande forms more than 1,200 miles of the Texas–Mexico border, sustaining river communities and landscapes including Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Trump administration is waiving environmental and historic preservation laws to build walls, roads, and river buoys along portions of the river, putting wildlife habitat, river access, and livelihoods at risk. Downstream communities also warn of threats to flood safety and drinking water infrastructure.
WASHINGTON, DC — On Monday, November 9, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume constructing border walls, barriers, and patrol roads across the Big Bend region of West Texas. The ruling puts on hold a district court’s October 2, 2026, order that had halted construction. To build quickly, DHS waived the environmental and historic preservation laws that would normally require review and public input. The America the Beautiful for All Coalition urges a halt to construction and calls for protection of the communities, wildlife, and livelihoods that depend on the Rio Grande.
Opposition to the proposed construction crosses party lines and includes landowners, ranchers, river guides, conservation advocates, and local officials. The ruling also brings renewed attention to separate wall-and-buoy projects farther along the river near Laredo, where communities are raising concerns about flooding and drinking water infrastructure.
"Laredo gets all its drinking water from the Rio Grande. Anything that threatens our ability to get water from that river requires scrutiny," said Martin Castro, Freshwater Workgroup Co-Lead for the America the Beautiful for All Coalition and Watershed Science Director at the Rio Grande International Study Center. "The study our organization commissioned for proposed wall-and-buoy infrastructure in Webb and Zapata counties warns of increased flood risks and threats to bridges and water infrastructure. When barriers collect debris and change how floodwater moves, people's homes, safety, and water supply can be put at risk. These are consequences that communities will have to live with long after construction crews leave."
Those concerns became tangible this summer when floodwaters swept hundreds of metal border buoys loose and carried them toward Laredo, prompting temporary bridge closures. Laredo's mayor warned that the city would have approximately eight hours of stored water if its water intake facility were compromised.
"We do not accept the idea that public safety requires sacrificing the lands, waters, wildlife, and communities that make a place home. Safety includes a reliable water supply, a home protected from avoidable flood risks, and the ability to make a living. Across border communities, landowners are also confronting the prospect of losing land to construction," said Ángel Peña, Executive Director of the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project.
Earlier border construction has left documented damage to water flows, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources. These impacts show why environmental protections and meaningful community participation matter before ground is broken.
"People from every background travel to Big Bend to float the river, look up at its dark night skies, and feel small in the best way. Those experiences depend on a living landscape. Wildlife needs routes to water, food, and shelter. River guides need access to the places where they earn their living. Families need places where they can gather. Big Bend provides all of that! Destruction of this sacred landscape is irreparable; a later court decision cannot undo the damage," said Olivia Juarez, Public Land Program Director at GreenLatinos and Co-founder, Of Salt & Sand.
"The Rio Grande begins in Colorado, flows through New Mexico, and forms the Texas-Mexico border on its way to the Gulf. Our coalition includes people working to care for the lands, waters, wildlife, and communities connected throughout that journey. The people closest to these places have been bringing forward evidence, organizing their neighbors, and asking for support. The responsibility to protect our shared natural and cultural heritage cannot rest on their shoulders alone. An America the Beautiful FOR ALL cannot make border communities the exception," said Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director of the America the Beautiful for All Coalition.
The coalition calls on the administration to stop construction and urges movement partners to support locally led efforts with funding, scientific and legal expertise, and national visibility.
Our shared waters sustain us. Protecting the Rio Grande means protecting the lives and communities that depend on it.
Keep our river free. No buoys, no border wall.
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About Us
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition unites 300+ organizations across missions, ecosystems, communities, and cultures to steward nature while upholding environmental justice and defending public health. We follow the leadership of the communities closest to the lands, waters, and wildlife under threat.
