The federal government has extended its pause on construction of border barriers at Big Bend National Park to Sept. 30, according to state Sen. Roland Gutierrez.
Monday’s extension comes after a San Antonio federal judge last week granted a temporary restraining order blocking the White House from building barriers inside the beloved West Texas parkland. Gutierrez, who was one of the attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case, shared the news in a Monday afternoon Instagram video.
Gutierrez, a Democrat, represented river adventure company Far Flung Outfitters as well as the Lipan-Apache Tribe in the case. Both argued the ongoing construction was damaging to the park while threatening the company’s economic viability and the tribe’s religious freedom.
On Monday, Gutierrez said the court received a letter from the federal government stating there would be no “moving of earth or dirt of any kind” until Sept. 30, extending the court-imposed pause.
“Now, that’s important, but we’re not stopping our fight,” Gutierrez said. “The religious freedom rights of the Lipan-Apache members that we represent and the economic rights of Far Flung Outfitters — and many of you in this community — need to be addressed.”
Gutierrez said that he hopes the community will use the next 30 days to raise their concerns about the potential damage to the treasured West Texas park.
“We don’t need a wall where one already exists. We don’t need a wall where there are virtually no border crossings to speak of in any real way,” Gutierrez said. “We don’t need an expenditure of $1.7 billion just to fill the coffers of some contractor.”
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