Lauren Villagran

Well, Dana, it is fired up is how I would describe it.

I don't think I met a single person in four days in the region who didn't have something to say about President Donald Trump's plans to build a border barrier in that region.

So President Trump, upon taking office in 2025, did send indications that he intended to continue border wall construction.

Then last year, when he signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that bill gave more than $45 billion for border barrier construction.

Now, the local Big Bend Sentinel, a local newspaper, began a drumbeat of stories on the contracts being issued and the plans being signed.

announced by U.S.

Customs and Border Protection.

And many people, Dana, told me that at first they didn't really believe that anything was going to happen.

Trump, as you know, has been talking about a border wall since at least 2015.

That was one of the big promises of his 2015 campaign.

And he did build hundreds of miles of border fencing, though much of it was replacement fencing.

In February, the plans became increasingly real as contractors began showing up on the ground and landowners, Dana, began receiving eminent domain notices.

Essentially, the federal government saying, we're going to strike a deal with you to take part of your land or else.

Well, Dana, it's not 100% clear.

DHS and U.S.

Customs and Border Protection has begun using this language, smart wall.

I believe it does refer to, you know, the technology that is deployed at the border, everything from hidden in-ground sensors to drones and infrared lighting.

But at the end of the day, a physical barrier is still part of it.

Now, what is being considered in the Big Bend sector, which stretches over 517 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, is a variety of physical barrier and border security technologies.

Officially, CBP, including Border Patrol, tells me that plans are not firm and that the agency is listening to constituents in the region.