EL PASO, Texas— After the Trump administration agreed today to pause ground disturbing activities in Big Bend National Park until Sept. 15, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone postponed a hearing scheduled for Thursday in El Paso on a request for a preliminary injunction to stop construction of border infrastructure in the park and across the region.
The request was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church and a Big Bend area landowner, the same plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the construction. That lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional waiver of dozens of laws to fast-track border barrier construction in the region proceeds.
CANCELED What: Evidentiary hearing before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone on a preliminary injunction motion challenging the Trump administration’s construction of border barriers in Big Bend National Park and supporter rally.
CANCELED When: Rally at 12:00 p.m. MDT, hearing at 1:00 p.m. MDT, Thursday, Sept. 3.
Where: Courtroom 522, U.S. Courthouse, 525 Magoffin Avenue, El Paso, TX 79901.
CANCELED Who: National public lands campaigner Laiken Jordahl and attorneys from the Center for Biological Diversity will be available for media interviews.
Background
In April the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church and a Big Bend-area river guide and landowner sued the Department of Homeland Security for unconstitutionally waiving dozens of laws to fast-track border wall construction through the Big Bend region of Texas, west of the national park. The lawsuit says the department is exercising powers Congress never authorized.
In June the Trump administration waived additional laws to authorize construction of border barriers and roads through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. The move marked the first time in U.S. history that the federal government has cast aside a broad slate of environmental laws — including the National Park Service Organic Act, Endangered Species Act and National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act — inside a national park.
The groups responded by amending their April lawsuit to include the national park.
The Trump administration issued another round of waivers, extending east of the National Park through the lower canyons of the Rio Grande’s Wild and Scenic River corridor. The groups again expanded their lawsuit to encompass that area. Together, the three challenged waivers now span approximately one-third of the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
Bulldozers started tearing into Big Bend National Park near the iconic Santa Elena Canyon in early August and were documented plowing new routes for vehicle barriers into both the east and west sides of Mariscal Mountain. Contractors have stockpiled heavy equipment across the Big Bend region, where staging yards have been cleared, worker camps built and water wells drilled.
In response to widespread nonpartisan outrage, Customs and Border Protection announced a pause in construction activities on Aug. 17, the same day opponents filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. Without action from Congress or the court, work could resume at any moment.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys at the Center for Biological Diversity and Texas Civil Rights Project.
