For 36 years, Los Diablos, a trained fire crew from communities across the Rio Grande in Mexico, have helped protect Big Bend National Park and communities across the United States from wildfire and natural disasters.

Now they can't come help us.

Big Bend National Park created the Los Diablos program in 1990 for a simple reason: Big Bend is extremely remote, and federal and state firefighting resources can take days to arrive. Los Diablos are right across the river. The National Park Service trained them and kept them qualified, while DHS and Border Patrol provided special authorization allowing them to legally cross into the United States when they were needed.

They have spent decades answering America's calls for help.

Los Diablos have fought fires in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and elsewhere. In 2022, they helped the Texas A&M Forest Service fight wildfires near Palo Pinto, Killeen, and Glen Rose and assisted with Hurricane Ian disaster response. That same year, Los Diablos and Big Bend park rangers contained a wildfire on the remote South Rim of Big Bend National Park at only 30 acres.

Even after the Boquillas crossing closed following 9/11, the federal government preserved special access for Los Diablos because their importance to Big Bend was understood.

In 2026, that changed.

El País reported on May 4, 2026, that changes in federal immigration policy ended the special authorization that allowed Los Diablos to enter the United States to work. At the same time, cuts have left Big Bend's own fire program with drastically fewer resources.

This hurts both sides of the river. Los Diablos lose one of the few substantial sources of employment available in these tiny, remote communities, and Big Bend loses experienced firefighters who can reach emergencies far faster than many outside resources.

There is no good reason a trained, vetted fire crew with a 36-year history of protecting American lives and land should be prevented from helping us because they live a few miles away on the other side of the Rio Grande.

We are asking the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the National Park Service to immediately restore the federal authorization and rural-crossing arrangement that allowed Los Diablos to enter the United States for emergency firefighting and disaster response.

These firefighters have shown up for us for 36 years.

Let Los Diablos come fight our fires.