Dozens of people gathered Saturday morning in Terlingua at the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 170 and Texas Highway 118 to protest potential construction of a border wall along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region.
A grassroots group organized the demonstration from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 28, citing environmental, economic and property rights concerns related to a possible wall through Big Bend Ranch State Park, Big Bend National Park and nearby communities.
Organizers described the effort as a local, nonpartisan movement committed to nonviolence. Protest signs included messages opposing a border wall and urging protection of public lands and the Rio Grande corridor.
Based on a review of video posted by Basecamp Terlingua and an analysis of a wide-angle screenshot of the crowd, approximately 70 to 90 people appeared to attend at peak turnout, with participants lined along the roadside shoulder holding signs and flags.
A flyer circulating locally and online ahead of the event said a wall through the region would be “a massive waste of taxpayer money,” harm tourism and fragile desert ecosystems, and potentially violate federal environmental and historic preservation laws. It also raised concerns about impacts on private property owners and state sovereignty.
The materials argued that the Big Bend sector experiences relatively few migrant crossings compared with other areas of the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Big Bend does not need a border wall,” the flyer stated, adding that participants aim to support conservation, the rule of law and what it called “smart border policy.”
Sedition supporting the invasion of foreigners is criminal. Those opposing the wall should themselves be deported. Let’s all stop rebelling against authority, as God is at work through our great President.