A San Antonio federal court has granted a hearing for a temporary restraining order to halt the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial border barrier construction in Big Bend National Park.
The work, which began tearing through the beloved West Texas wilderness area last weekend, has drawn widespread criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.
The court approved the plaintiffs’ motion for an in-person evidentiary hearing, which will take place at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28, in Courtroom C on the 2nd Floor of the U.S. Courthouse at 262 West Nueva St.
Critics maintain DHS’s construction project has damaged geological and archaeological sites in the park’s Santa Elena Canyon. Viral video footage of the work showed bulldozers cutting through riparian vegetation to create access roads, destroying Mariscal Mountain in the process.
Contractors also plan to build vehicle barriers and surveillance towers in the national park’s pristine wilderness, according to the most recent publicly available plans from DHS.
The petition for an emergency restraining order comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed last Friday by West Texas residents and Lipan Apache tribe members to stop construction of the wall permanently on religious and constitutional grounds.
Amid the public outcry, the feds paused construction while Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott visits. This marks the first time Scott has visited the region. He’s told the media that he will meet with local stakeholders during the trip and survey the project’s impact on the park.
Activists from the Big Bend area have expressed distrust of the temporary pause, noting that plans for building barriers in the park have changed frequently and drastically over recent months.
The government has argued in court that the pause in construction will extend until Aug. 31. The moratorium also doesn’t cover the wilderness areas just outside the park. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit will continue to seek relief in the areas areas affected within and outside the national park, according to a written statement.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, whose District 19 includes San Antonio, is one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case.
“The Department of Homeland Security has already bulldozed this pristine land to an unrecognizable pulp,” Gutierrez said in a statement emailed to the Current. “The Trump administration is spending $1.7 billion of our tax dollars to destroy this park and its natural wonder in an area where there are virtually no border crossings. This stops now.”
The Trump administration waived dozens of environmental protections, including the Endangered Species Act, to launch the unprecedented project in the national park. Furthermore, CBP data shows that border crossings are nearly nonexistent in the region, prompting activists to argue the project is designed to enrich major Trump donors.
The White House awarded the $1.7 billion contract for the work to Albuquerque, N.M.-based Southwest Valley Constructors Co. The pact is one of the largest awarded during Trump’s second term.
The feds have awarded a total of almost $7 billion in contracts in the Big Bend region overall. Outside of the park, additional contracts have gone to Barnard Construction and Fisher Sand & Gravel. The leadership of Montana-based Barnard Construction donated more than $1 million to Trump’s re-election campaign.
Big Bend National Park is at the center of the region’s $6 billion tourism industry. The site is also sacred for local tribes.
“We are fighting the wall in court because Kónitsąąíí — the river that has carried our people, our prayers, and our ancestors for thousands of years — is not waiting for someone else to save her, and neither are we,” said Christina Hernandez, founder and director of The People of La Junta for Preservation.
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