Border construction across Texas’s Big Bend region must stop for now. On Friday, October 2, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction barring construction and other ground-disturbing work across the sector, including Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park and the Rio Grande borderlands, until the government complies with applicable laws.
The order is temporary, not a final ruling on the lawsuit. After hearing more than four hours of testimony, Cardone said plaintiffs were likely to succeed on at least one claim and would face irreparable harm without an injunction. The covered sector stretches more than 500 miles across West Texas.
The case was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church and Danny Miller, a river guide and landowner, against the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary. The plaintiffs challenge federal waivers used to speed construction, arguing they bypassed legal protections and violated constitutional limits, including separation of powers and property rights. The waivers had allowed work to proceed without complying with laws including the National Environmental Policy Act and historic-preservation requirements.
The ruling reaches beyond the park, where crews began clearing land in August. Federal plans call for roads, vehicle barriers and surveillance technology in the parks, and a 30-foot steel wall on some private land. The wider administration border effort is valued at $46 billion; contracts for Big Bend-area infrastructure total more than $7.5 billion, according to reporting by The Texas Tribune and Big Bend Sentinel.
The government says infrastructure is needed to secure the border. But Big Bend accounts for about a quarter of the U.S.-Mexico border’s length and 1% to 3% of annual migrant apprehensions, according to The Texas Tribune. A separate judge rejected a temporary restraining-order request in a different Big Bend case on Thursday; Cardone’s injunction now blocks work while this lawsuit proceeds.