A federal judge in El Paso on Friday halted border wall construction across the Big Bend region, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s effort to erect hundreds of miles of barriers despite fierce local opposition. The federal government “shall not build border barrier or related infrastructure, or engage in any construction or ground disturbing activities, in the Big Bend sector,” the judge, Kathleen Cardone, wrote in her order, which she read from the bench.
In a two-page order granting an injunction in the case, the judge said the federal government could not rely on waivers of environmental and other laws it had granted itself to speed up the construction, writing that it “must comply with all applicable laws.” Judge Cardone ruled that the government could not use the waivers until the case was resolved. She wrote that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of at least one of their claims.
The lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas by plaintiffs including a river boat guide and a church preservation group, sought to stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection from building border barriers across a more-than-500-mile stretch of the frontier with Mexico. The plans, which include some barriers in Big Bend National Park, have been the focus of months of protests and stop-and-start construction activity.
Outside the courthouse, river guides and environmental activists cheered after the order was issued. “We dodged a bullet today,” said Billy Miller, a river guide who lives in Terlingua, Texas, and was one of the plaintiffs in the suit.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing