Texas Big Bend border wall construction temporarily paused

(NBC, KYMA) - The Trump Administration says it is temporarily pausing construction of a controversial border construction project in the Big Bend National Park.

The pause comes while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits Texas to do an on the ground evaluation.

The project through the National Park in Southern Texas has faced fierce bipartisan opposition by critics who say it is marring a pristine environmental area and that the region's rugged and remote terrain already serves as a deterrent to migrants and smugglers.

Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, the agency tasked with building the wall, announced on X that he was visiting Texas to do an evaluation.

Congress gave the Trump Administration $46 billion last summer to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and the administration has been racing ahead and waiving numerous regulations in an effort to swiftly build the wall.

Scott has said that he expected them to build the first layer of the wall by the end of next year, but they have run into fierce opposition in Texas, especially regarding construction in and near Big Bend National Park and a state park to the West.