EL PASO — A judge on Friday blocked the construction of new border barriers in the Big Bend region, approving an environmental group’s request for a preliminary injunction.
At the end of Friday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone asked the courtroom to remain calm as she read her order aloud from the bench. She ruled that the plaintiffs’ constitutional requests to stop construction were likely to succeed and that its preliminary injunction against “land-disturbing activities” would remain in effect while the lawsuit continued in court.
The legal team at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary in April on behalf of the Friends of Ruidosa Church, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving a historic church in Presidio County, and Danny William Miller, a Rio Grande River guide and landowner who faces losing his property in Redford to the wall.
The lawsuit argues that the five border wall projects in the region are unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, including violating the constitutional separation of powers and depriving citizens of their land.
The suit documents what could be lost from border barrier construction along the Rio Grande if it is allowed to continue. Zeynep Graves, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in her closing arguments that the impact of the wall’s construction in the Big Bend has affected the community at every level.
Center for Biological Diversity attorney Zeynep Graves (right) leaves court with witnesses Bill Guerra-Addington (far left) and Laiken Jordahl.
” data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?fit=780%2C615&ssl=1″ alt=”Zeynep Graves (right), attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, leaves court with witnesses Bill Guerra-Addington (far left) and Laiken Jordahl.” class=”wp-image-245194″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=300%2C237&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=1024%2C808&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=768%2C606&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=1536%2C1212&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=2048%2C1616&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=1200%2C947&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=2000%2C1578&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=780%2C615&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=800%2C631&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?resize=400%2C316&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/All-Smiles.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(maximum width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px”/>“The damage goes well beyond the landscape itself,” she said.
In emotional testimony, Miller likened the government’s building a wall around his property and blocking his access to the river to “a bullet to the head.”
Miller said that once altered, desert landscapes could never be replaced and that his job as a river guide would become “a tour of the military-industrial complex, rather than a tour of the wilderness.”
Hudspeth County resident Bill Guerra-Addington said a border barrier would be a death sentence for his ranch on the Texas-Mexico border. “They’re taking the river away from us, and it’s devastating,” he said.
The government says physical border infrastructure is needed, even in remote, lightly traveled areas like Big Bend, to achieve what it calls “operational control” of the border — zero unauthorized border crossings.
“Since the President took office, DHS has implemented the most secure border in history,” former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a series of waivers that relaxed contracting laws across the southwest border. “However, we can do more. »
The Big Bend sector, which includes Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, covers about a quarter of the length of the border, but sees only between 1% and 3% of migrants apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection each year.
Since news of the government’s plans for border barriers at Big Bend broke in January 2026, a grassroots bipartisan backlash has been building across the region, slowly pushing the government to adjust its plans for physical border infrastructure – walls, roads, fences, lights, sensors and more – totaling more than $7.5 billion in government contracts.
In response to public outcry, DHS officials countered with speculation about what might happen to Big Bend if migrant smuggling shifts in response to wall construction elsewhere along the southern border. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott released a statement saying the agency’s goal was to protect the national park from future cartel activity.
Despite the scale of opposition, contractors bulldozed new roads into the park after the government waived the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Protection Act to support “rapid construction of fences and roads” along the border.
So far, six lawsuits have been filed regarding the Big Bend wall. A judge on Thursday denied a request for a temporary restraining order in another case aimed at halting work in and around Big Bend National Park, which had been halted until September.
