Judge temporarily halts Big Bend border construction

A federal judge on Friday temporarily barred the U.S. government from building border barriers or carrying out related construction and ground-disturbing work in Texas’s Big Bend region while a lawsuit challenging the projects proceeds. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on at least one claim, according to her order, which she read from the bench in El Paso. The case was brought by a Rio Grande river guide and landowner, Danny William Miller, and Friends of the Ruidosa Church, a group seeking to preserve a historic church in Presidio County. Their lawsuit challenges federal plans for border barriers and argues that the government’s actions violate the Constitution and deprive citizens of property. The Center for Biological Diversity represents the plaintiffs. The injunction blocks border-barrier construction and related ground-disturbing activity in the Big Bend sector for now. One account of the written order said the government also cannot rely on waivers of environmental and other laws to accelerate work while the case is unresolved and must comply with applicable laws.