Washington, DC — Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to launch an investigation into billions of dollars in federal contracts for a massive border infrastructure project in the Big Bend region of Texas, contracts PEER says raise serious questions about political favoritism, wasted taxpayer money, and irreversible damage to one of the country’s most unique landscapes.

The call comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) temporarily paused border infrastructure construction in Big Bend National Park this week amid growing bipartisan opposition in Texas. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said he would visit the area and review the project before work proceeds.

“A pause is welcome, but it does not answer the fundamental question of why billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on these projects in the first place,” said PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse. “When politically connected contractors receive enormous government contracts for projects of questionable need while normal environmental and oversight safeguards are waived, the public deserves answers.”

The Big Bend region has among the lowest levels of unauthorized border crossings along the southern border. Yet the Trump administration has awarded billions of dollars in contracts for massive border infrastructure across the region.

Among the contracts drawing scrutiny are more than $3 billion in awards to Barnard Construction and Fisher Sand & Gravel for wall construction in the broader Big Bend region. Barnard Chairman Timothy Barnard and his wife contributed approximately $1.1 million to the Trump 47 Committee during the 2024 election cycle. Fisher Sand & Gravel President Tommy Fisher is also a Republican donor whose company received a controversial $400 million border contract during the first Trump administration after Trump personally pushed federal officials to consider the company.

The administration has also awarded a $1.7 billion contract to Southwest Valley Constructors for work in Big Bend National Park. Federal contracting records initially described the award as for construction of a “border wall in Big Bend, Texas.” CBP has subsequently said the project would instead involve roads, surveillance technology, and limited vehicle barriers, which would also be highly destructive to natural resources and the park.

PEER is calling for answers about how contractors were selected, what role political connections played in the contracting process, how the administration determined the projects were necessary, and why normal environmental and public oversight requirements were waived. PEER previously called the decision to waive environmental protections for Big Bend “fiscally reckless, ineffective, and an unconscionable sacrifice of one of America’s most irreplaceable wild landscapes.”

“Border development in and around Big Bend National Park should not become a blank check for politically connected contractors,” Whitehouse added. “Before another dollar is spent or another acre is disturbed, the administration should explain why taxpayers are paying billions to stop illegal immigration in one of America’s least crossed, most unique landscapes.”

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Read PEER’s letter requesting an investigation into Big Bend border contracts

Read PEER’s statement on waiving of environmental laws in Big Bend National Park

PEER protects public employees who protect our environment, natural resources, and public health. We support current and former environmental and public health professionals, land managers, scientists, enforcement officers, and other civil servants dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values across federal, state, local, and tribal governments.