Panther Cave is one of the cave mural sites that archaeologists warn could be disrupted by Trump's planned border wall expansion along the border of Texas. (all photos courtesy Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center)The federal government announced on Monday that the Texan portion of the US-Mexico border wall will be exempt from environment preservation laws. Hundreds of archaeological sites, including 6,000-year-old cave paintings, are under threat as the Trump administration moves to expand its southern border barrier in the Big Bend region of Texas. The border wall expansion would include both physical barriers and artificial intelligence-powered surveillance infrastructure. " This [border wall] route goes in and out of different canyons, so the potential for damage to these rock art sites and just archaeology in general is very large," Castañeda said in a phone call.