Texas Monthly reported on August 7, 2026 that a planned stretch of Trump's border wall would cut off access to, and could bulldoze, the site of the Porvenir massacre in Presidio County, West Texas. On January 28, 1918, Texas Rangers, U.S. Army soldiers, and local ranchers dragged 15 unarmed ethnic-Mexican men and boys from their homes in the farming village of Porvenir and executed them against a rock bluff near the Rio Grande. No one was ever prosecuted. The Texas Historical Commission approved a marker commemorating the massacre in 2018 (Texas Standard dates its dedication to 2019).
Based on analyses of Customs and Border Protection's “Smart Wall Map,” a 30-foot steel wall would cut off access to the archaeological zone, which is still being studied. Archaeologist David Keller, who led the 2015 excavation that found military-issue cartridge casings at the execution site, said a newly built roadway about 16 feet wide already cuts through the eastern third of the site, and that, based on talks between contractors and local officials, the path is to be widened to 100 or 120 feet for the wall, lighting and access roads. Marfa Public Radio reported that the road is being built by Barnard Construction, the wall contractor for the sector; earlier, in July, the Big Bend Sentinel reported incoming Presidio County commissioner Susan Hays's account that Barnard had clear-cut land near the site.
Arlinda Valencia, 74, a great-granddaughter of victim Longino Flores, told Texas Monthly, “Do you think if you started bulldozing Gettysburg that people would accept it?” She went on: “Of course not. People died there—it's sacred land.” Keller said, “We finally get some acknowledgement that this happened, and now they're going to basically erase it from the books of history.” CBP did not answer questions about the site; in a statement it said “the route has not been finalized” and that it uses public feedback to avoid or minimize impacts. This is a separate site from the 1,000-year-old Las Playas geoglyph in Arizona that a contractor damaged in April (see A DHS Contractor Cut Through the Las Playas Intaglio for Trump's Border Wall. Scientists Now Date It to at Least 6,500 Years Ago.).
Correction (October 2, 2026): this entry joined two sentences of Arlinda Valencia's that Texas Monthly reports separately, with an attribution between them, into one quotation; they are now quoted separately and verbatim. It also stated as fact that Barnard Construction clear-cut land near the site; the Big Bend Sentinel reported that as Susan Hays's account, and the entry now says so. The 100-to-120-foot widening is now attributed to Keller's understanding of talks between contractors and local officials, and the entry notes that outlets differ on whether the 2018 marker date refers to its approval or dedication.