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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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The contractor behind the Big Bend border wall project in Texas is a Montana heavy-civil construction firm headed by a major donor to President Donald Trump.
Barnard Construction Company has been awarded billions of dollars in federal border barrier contracts, including nearly $2 billion linked directly to the Big Bend region in West Texas.
Newsweek contacted Barnard Construction, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Texas General Land Office for comment.
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Who is Tim Barnard?
Tim Barnard is a Montana entrepreneur and construction executive who founded Barnard Construction Co. in 1975. The company, based in Bozeman, has grown from a small contractor into a major heavy-civil construction firm working on projects across North America, according to the company’s website.
Barnard was born in New Jersey and began working in his family’s construction business at age 15. He attended Villanova University, participated in Gonzaga University’s Gonzaga-in-Florence program and studied at Sophia University in Tokyo, according to a biography published by Montana State University’s Alumni Foundation.
Barnard moved to Montana in 1975 to start his own construction company. Barnard Construction’s company history says he arrived with $1,000, two shovels, a pick, and his belongings in a pickup truck. His grandmother lent him $3,500, which helped him obtain bonding for his first project, a $17,000 Forest Service sewer job, the company says.
The company eventually expanded into specialized heavy-civil work, including dams, reservoirs, hydroelectric facilities, tunnels, pipelines, water and sewer infrastructure, power transmission and environmental construction.
Federal border barrier construction has expanded to become a major portion of the firm's business in recent years.
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Tim Barnard's Donations to Donald Trump
Company chairman Tim Barnard and his wife donated $1 million to a Trump campaign joint fundraising committee in 2024 and to a Trump political action committee, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by Newsweek.
Executive leadership and affiliated entities at Barnard Construction have contributed more than $1 million to political committees backing Trump and conservative campaigns, according to campaign finance databases and the Center for Western Priorities.
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Barnard Construction Receives Billions in Contracts
Barnard Construction and its affiliates have received more than $5.6 billion in border construction contracts during Trump's second term, according to federal spending data compiled on USAspending.gov and reported by High Country News.
DHS awarded a $960,423,540 delivery order to Barnard Construction Company, Inc. for the "BBT-3 Border Barrier Construction Project," according to USAspending.gov records. The March 5, 2026 contract covers construction in Terlingua, Texas, spanning the Rio Grande from the Hudspeth-Jeff Davis County line to Ruidosa in Presidio County, according to The Big Bend Sentinel.
On the same day, Barnard secured additional border barrier contracts, including roughly $1 billion in Hudspeth County and $600 million near Del Rio, according to procurement logs.
A spokesperson for CBP told Newsweek, "CBP has awarded two contracts in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector to Barnard Construction Company, Inc. for the Big Bend 1 and the Big Bend 3 Wall Projects. The Big Bend 1 Wall Project was awarded for approximately $1.1B to construct approximately 47 miles of primary border wall system. This project is located in Hudspeth County in Texas and also includes the installation of detection technology.
The Big Bend 3 Wall Project was awarded for approximately $940M to construct approximately 56 miles of primary border wall system. This project is located in Presidio County in Texas and also includes the installation of detection technology. These projects were competitively bid through CBP’s Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) multi-award vehicle. Contract awards are based on the contractor’s qualifications to perform the work in a timely manner and at prices deemed fair and reasonable."
CBP said that it does not plan to build a 30-foot-high barrier in Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. Where barriers are planned near Big Bend Ranch State Park, CBP will coordinate with park officials to maintain recreational access and use existing roads where possible for border patrol access.
Controversy Over Big Bend contracts
A competitor, Posillico Civil, sued the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on May 13, 2026, alleging CBP promised roughly 73 percent of the value of new Texas and New Mexico wall contracts to Barnard Construction and Fisher Sand & Gravel, according to court documents. Posillico Civil Inc. has dropped its lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of unfairly funneling a majority of work under a $37 billion border infrastructure contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. and Barnard Construction.
On July 31, the Texas General Land Office sent cease-and-desist letters to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Barnard Construction Co., alleging that the contractor had illegally cleared more than a mile of state-owned land in southern Presidio County without the agency’s authorization.
"Texas sovereignty will not be infringed upon by failure to follow established protocol," Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a press release. "My office has a proven track record of strong border enforcement, and I applaud efforts to protect our border. I am committed to maintaining a positive relationship with CBP, but we will not allow rogue actors who breached our agreement to undermine the incredible work we do for Texas."
A CBP spokesperson said: "CBP was made aware that one of its border wall construction contractors trespassed on land managed by the Texas General Land Office (TX GLO). The construction contractor is responsible for verifying where they have legal access to property. CBP values its partnership with the TX GLO, and we are working to resolve this issue with the Contractor and the TX GLO to ensure this does not happen in the future."
Big Bend Construction Work Sparks Backlash
A bipartisan coalition of local politicians, environmental groups, former National Park Service leaders, and regional tourism businesses oppose the project, arguing that the infrastructure could damage desert ecosystems and permanently alter the character of a park that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually.
Local residents, conservation advocates, and municipal officials say that heavy machinery and physical barriers risk causing severe ecological disruption, hurting the ecotourism economy, and exacerbating cross-border flooding along the Rio Grande flood plain, according to statements from regional groups and lawsuits filed by local municipalities.
In March, five county sheriffs representing the Big Bend region issued a joint statement urging the federal government to halt construction. The law enforcement officials cited concerns over permanent environmental degradation, arguing that the area's rugged terrain acts as a natural barrier and that physical wall construction is ill-suited for the region.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Ben Kelly and Robert Greenall
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