AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

In southern Texas, the Trump administration said Monday it’s temporarily pausing construction on a section of the border infrastructure that’s in Big Bend National Park, after construction crews were filmed bulldozing pristine desert wilderness, prompting ongoing protests and lawsuit. The Department of Homeland Security waived requirements that federal contractors comply with a broad slate of environmental laws to proceed with construction in the national park. The area covers a quarter of the U.S.-Mexico border but sees only about 1% of border crossings due to the rugged terrain. The project in the Big Bend region is expected to cost $7 billion.

Opposition to the controversial project has been widespread and bipartisan, including from environmentalists, local landowners, local sheriffs and county judges. Outgoing Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn wrote to the Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin earlier this month, urging him to halt construction until DHS engage further with local concerns. The contractor on the project is a major Trump donor.

On Monday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott flew to Texas to announce the pause.

RODNEY SCOTT: I just landed in Texas, headed to Big Bend National Park. Last night, I put a pause on all activity in that park as far as construction goes, until I can get down there and do a personal evaluation, talk to some stakeholders, talk to local law enforcement in that area. And more to follow this week.

AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday, Rodney Scott told local officials the pause would last just two weeks.

In a statement, campaigner Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity said, quote, “We won’t rest until the contracts are canceled, the waivers of law are rescinded, and the bulldozers are sent packing for good,” unquote.

We go now to Texas, where we are joined by Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. Laiken used to work at Big Bend National Park on wilderness stewardship issues. I mean, Big Bend, I think it’s something like the size of Rhode Island. We are talking about a massive area.

Now, Laiken, you’re not usually siding — maybe I’m wrong — with the local sheriffs, with the Republican senators, but this is across the political spectrum. I mean, you had local sheriffs and the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, both claiming they were responsible for this pause, wanting to take credit. Talk about what’s happened here.

LAIKEN JORDAHL: Good morning from beautiful Big Bend, Amy.

This movement that we have built is a force to be reckoned with. I think the administration made such a massive miscalculation when they sicced their bulldozers on this great American national park. We have seen local sheriffs who are extremely conservative, border security experts come out and oppose this thing. We’ve got Republican state House reps on our side.

You know, this pause is welcome news. It shows just how nervous the administration is about this resistance. But we have no reason to trust DHS. None. They didn’t even admit there was construction happening here until this week. They were trying to hide that from the public.

And we’ve been out filming the bulldozers every day, working with this incredible local community. And I just — I don’t think they understand just how deep people’s connection to this land, to this national park and to the Rio Grande is here in Texas.

AMY GOODMAN: So, let’s talk about who got the contracts. Newsweek says Tim Barnard and his wife donated $1 million to a Trump fundraising committee in 2024. Barnard Construction Company has been awarded billions of dollars in federal border barrier contracts, including nearly $2 billion linked directly to the Big Bend region. If you can talk about this? And also, we’re not talking about building the wall in Big Bend, right? It’s the infrastructure to service all of this, for example, surveillance, etc. But start with the donors, who are contractors now.

LAIKEN JORDAHL: Yeah, these contractors are darlings of this administration, and they’ve been given billions of dollars to build walls all across the U.S.-Mexico border. At this point, I mean, this administration is using this national park and its destruction as an opportunity to transfer billions of dollars into their pockets.

And it’s the same playbook that we see all across America’s public lands. You know, these contractors have received $7 billion to build walls, vehicle barriers and roads across the region. In the park itself, it’s a $1.7 billion contract. That is more than half of the entire annual operating budget of the National Park Service.

As a former Park Service staff, like, I cannot fathom. They have lost a quarter of their entire staff. They are facing budget cuts like they have never seen. Trash cans are piling up at national parks. Staff have been fired, and we’re losing so much institutional knowledge. And if we just spent a fraction of this $1.7 billion on actually sustaining our national parks, dealing with the maintenance backlog, I mean, it would be life-changing for so many people. But instead, we’re using all of this money to build a useless network of roads that cut into the most pristine part of the national park, just to enrich a federal contractor.

AMY GOODMAN: And talk about why Republicans, leading Republicans, are taking on President Trump on this, from Governor Abbott to the sheriffs.

LAIKEN JORDAHL: Yeah, you know, I think, in Texas, Big Bend is symbolic of this idea of freedom. This place, this national park, it changes you, once you’ve been here. And Republicans are not immune to that love for the land. It’s been incredible to see them speaking out. I think, in a lot of cases, it’s a little — it’s too little, too late. But it’s nice to have Abbott trying to claim that he’s responsible for this. There’s also, you know, a ton of wildlife out here. There are game species that the Texas Backcountry Hunters and Anglers have been working with us on this project.

So, everybody loves this place. Everybody loves the river. And if you look at the facts, there are just no border crossings that happen here. So it is unjustifiable, what they are doing to this place. And we do not trust this pause. We are seeking a permanent stop to construction, and we just filed for an emergency injunction with the court on Monday.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Laiken Jordahl, can you talk about the environmental laws that were waived in Big Bend, including the Endangered Species Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Clean Water Act and more?

LAIKEN JORDAHL: Yeah, with the strike of a pen, the DHS secretary has eviscerated decades of our nation’s most important environmental laws. This has never happened in a national park. National parks are supposed to be the public lands with the highest degree of protection. I mean, you can’t pick a flower in a national park and take it home, and yet we’re seeing this irreversible destruction unfold. And that is only allowed because of these vast and sweeping environmental waivers. We are challenging that waiver authority in court.

DHS has argued that the Big Bend region is an area of high illegal activity. But the numbers don’t add up. The entire sector last month, 517 miles of border here, there were 98 apprehensions across the entire 517-mile sector. Nobody understands why they are pushing forward with this project.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go now to Arizona. Laiken Jordahl, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Laiken Jordahl, again, national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. He used to work at Big Bend National Park on wilderness stewardship issues.