Federal Court temporarily blocks Trump administration’s border wall in Texas’ Big Bend region

WASHINGTON — A Texas federal court on Friday issued a ruling temporarily barring the Trump administration from building a border wall and other infrastructure in the state’s Big Bend region.

The news marks a major victory for area landowners, businesses and environmentalists who have united to oppose the planned infrastructure projects, part of a $46 billion effort by the Trump administration to line the southern border with a mix of 30-foot-high steel walls, vehicle barriers, roads and surveillance technology.

Judge Kathleen Cardone said in her ruling that the plaintiffs were “likely to succeed on the merits of at least one of the lawsuit’s claims, that it is likely that they will suffer serious and irreparable harm without injunctive relief, and that the balance of the actions and the public interest weigh in their favor.”

Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Opponents of the border wall project have argued that the Big Bend region of Texas is so isolated and the landscape so rugged that it serves as a deterrent to illegal immigration and that the administration has violated the law by issuing a series of waivers allowing it to bypass numerous regulations in order to expedite border wall infrastructure projects.

Laiken Jordahl, of the Center for Biological Diversity which filed the lawsuit, called Cardone’s decision a “total victory.”

“The bulldozers are going to be sent back until she rules on the merits,” Jordahl said. “This is such a historic day for Big Bend, for Texas and the Constitution.”

The court’s decision comes just weeks after the administration erected the first border wall panels in the Big Bend sector in mid-September.

The proposed border wall through the Big Bend area has sparked bipartisan opposition.

Much of the opposition has focused on Customs and Border Protection’s plans for the interior of Big Bend National Park, popular for its beautiful landscapes, limestone cliffs and crystal-clear nighttime views.

When bulldozers were spotted clearing land in the park in August, it sparked widespread opposition, with both Republicans and Democrats calling for an end to the administration. Customs and Border Protection suspended all operations, but that pause expired on September 30. The administration has said it is re-evaluating plans for the national park, but has not yet said what it will do there.

But the judge’s ruling also extends to areas upstream and downstream of the national park, where Customs and Border Protection has planned a series of border infrastructure projects that would largely need to be built on private land.