A lawsuit over the Trump administration’s Big Bend area border barriers plan is ramping up, with both sides pressing a federal judge for a ruling as construction activities get underway.
Last Thursday, the plaintiffs asked a federal judge to speed up the case, citing the work related to the administration’s plan for vehicle barriers and new patrol roads that’s already started in Big Bend National Park.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement Friday that the project had not officially started and that construction crews were in the park “re-grading roads that were damaged by recent storms that are required for access to conduct surveys.” Still, photos and videos captured by activists in recent days showed crews also clearing vegetation near Santa Elena Canyon.
Big Bend National Park on Tuesday posted on its website that Glenn Springs Road — a popular 4x4 route — was closed until further notice "in furtherance" of the project, an effort to "mitigate risk associated with an active, large scale construction project." The road is one that contractors had been seen grading in recent days.
The people suing include a local river guide who says his livelihood’s at stake, the Friends of the Ruidosa Church, and the national Center for Biological Diversity.
The lawsuit initially targeted the 30-foot steel border wall planned from Hudspeth County to Presidio County, but has since been expanded to include the national park plan. The plaintiffs are hoping to expand the lawsuit further, to cover border projects planned east of the park to Del Rio.
In recent court documents, plaintiffs’ attorneys said the government had failed to give them a 30-day notice of any work beginning in the national park, as the parties had agreed to previously.
Emails included in the court filing showed Justice Department lawyer Andrew Warden telling plaintiffs that the government regrets “any confusion about the notice issue,” but that the work in the park constituted “pre-construction planning work” that “does not necessitate advance notice.”
“CBP cannot agree to postpone the current work that has started this week in the park,” Warden wrote on Aug. 5.
For more on the legal fight, Marfa Public Radio spoke with Laiken Jordahl, an advocate with the national group. Listen to that conversation in the audio player above.
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