The Trump administration is continuing to bypass federal environmental laws to expand border infrastructure, with a new Department of Homeland Security waiver covering more than 100 miles of the Texas border from Big Bend Ranch State Park through all of Big Bend National Park. The project, called "Big Bend 4," includes vehicle barriers, surveillance technology, and patrol road upgrades, though officials say a 30-foot steel wall will not be built inside the parks. Six former Big Bend National Park superintendents had urged officials not to issue the waiver, with one calling it "devastating news" that gives Customs and Border Protection unrestricted authority within the park. The broader border wall expansion has proceeded at roughly three miles per week, backed by $46.5 billion in funding and $22 billion in construction contracts, with exemptions from the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act and other protections granted under the 2005 REAL ID Act.