Building the big boondoggling wall through Big Bend — opposed by local-level, actually knowledgeable Republican elected officials, contra state-level MAGAts sucking up to outgoing Ag Commish Sid Vicious Miller — seems to be on hold for now.
Sam Karas, a Rio Grande river guide and sometime reporter for the Big Bend Sentinel, tells the Monthly how breaking the story about the wall originally broke him.
The story notes, which I didn't think of, that arguably a border fence ANYWHERE along the river is illegal under international law:
In 1848, when the United States and Mexico set the slippery boundary between the two countries somewhere in the Rio Grande, the framers of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo wrote that the Rio Grande “shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both countries; and neither shall, without the consent of the other, construct any work that may impede or interrupt, in whole or in part, the exercise of this right.” We vessels and citizens had certainly been impeded and interrupted.
Well, there you go. Surprised that argument hasn't been raised more.
The story talks about other wall stupidities in the area, like trying to fence off every ephemeral wash, creek and arroyo that runs into the river.
Karas adds more about how she got wind of the story at The Border Chronicle.
The Observer, with the Chronicle, ties wall building to political resistance.
The Texas Signal discusses the "smart" border walls in general.
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Update, May 19, 2026: Maybe it does NOT have a reprieve. WHY has a contract been awarded? Do we have the head of the Customs and Border Service having lied in April?
It SEEMS that what we have, with an update to that just-above link, originally published May 15, coming today, that what we have is federal bureaucratese misspeak. Here's what allegedly is being contracted:
In a statement on Tuesday, a CBP spokesperson said the $1.7 billion would be used to construct 17 miles of vehicle barriers and patrol roads and 205 miles of “system attributes,” which is comprised of a mix of patrol roads and surveillance technology. The spokesperson denied that the contract funding would be used to build “a 30-foot-high barrier” in either of the two parks in the region or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.
Pardon me if I remain skeptical until I see what happens. And, does this mean new road? Why not just upgrade the old River Road? Make it good enough so that rich college kids driving through closed roads signs don't get their asses stuck, unlike they did in reality.
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