The co-owner of a Terlingua lodging business facing criticism for agreeing to accommodate federal border-infrastructure workers says he unequivocally opposes construction of a border wall but supports improvements to a remote road through Big Bend National Park.
Harlan Stanley, co-owner of Terlingua Ghost Town Rentals, said the business will house workers assigned to road construction, not crews building the wall itself.
“We are not renting to the wall people,” Stanley said in an interview Saturday. “We are renting to the folks that are building the road.”
Stanley made the distinction after a widely shared Facebook post accused the business of agreeing to house contractors associated with a Kiewit-led border project. The post said the property would serve as a base for workers beginning Aug. 3 for at least 2 months (not 59 weeks as alleged in the Facebook post) and urged residents to contact the business, ask it to reconsider and direct their spending toward businesses opposing the project.
Stanley did not deny that contractors would be staying at the property. However, he rejected the suggestion that renting to workers improving the road amounted to supporting construction of the border wall.
“I am against the wall, for the record,” Stanley said. “Absolutely, unequivocally against the wall. I think it’s a dumb idea. It’s expensive. It’s not a good thing for anybody or anything.”
Southwest Valley Constructors, which is affiliated with construction giant Kiewit, received a federal contract valued at about $1.72 billion for border infrastructure in the Big Bend region. Federal spending records list the Department of Homeland Security contract, and the company says it specializes in large federal construction projects, including work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Stanley said he supports improving East River Road because the existing route is difficult or inaccessible for visitors without high-clearance, four-wheel-drive vehicles. He said a better road could provide greater access for tourists, park employees and law enforcement personnel.
“If they are going to make the road improved so that security vehicles and anybody else can drive up and down it, then I think that that’s a more inclusive road,” Stanley said.
Stanley compared the potential improvement to Old Maverick Road in Big Bend National Park. He emphasized that he was not claiming to know what the completed road would look like or whether it would resemble other scenic roads in the region.
He also said he was unaware of plans for lighting or other infrastructure that could affect wildlife. Stanley acknowledged that construction would disrupt the surrounding environment, at least temporarily, and said questions remain about the project’s scope.
Asked whether making the area easier to reach could unintentionally make unauthorized border crossings or other unwanted activity easier, Stanley called it “a fair point.”
“This is why, really, we need to have communication over what’s really happening out there,” he said.
The Facebook post opposing the rental arrangement argued that roads, surveillance systems, vehicle barriers and lodging for workers are all components of the larger border project. It said businesses providing beds, meals, fuel or other services help sustain the work, regardless of whether they directly construct a physical wall.
Stanley said the rental decision was also connected to the financial condition of the business. He said winter reservations are far below previous levels and blamed part of the decline on repeated confusion about whether Big Bend National Park would close during planned work in the Chisos Basin.
Stanley said the business currently has between 10 and 15 winter reservations when it ordinarily would have more than 100. He said Terlingua Ghost Town Rentals has experienced year-over-year declines for several years and needs revenue to remain open.
He also described longstanding conflicts between the business and some members of the Terlingua community, saying most neighboring businesses have been hostile toward him and his associates. Those claims could not immediately be independently verified.
Stanley said he plans to travel to Terlingua and personally meet the workers staying at the property.
“I do want to meet every single person that is coming into that park,” he said.
The dispute reflects a broader division over whether businesses can oppose the border wall while accepting money from workers involved in related infrastructure. Critics contend that roads and logistical support make the broader project possible. Stanley maintains that improving an existing road can benefit the public independently of any wall construction.
“I’m not supporting the wall,” Stanley said. “I’m for an improved road so that people who don’t have high-clearance four-wheel drives have access to that area.”
