In a massive victory for advocates, a federal judge on Friday ordered all constructionon the Big Bend area border wall to stop immediately at a hearing in El Paso. Outside the courtroom, the news of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone’s determination was met with tears, hugs and applause from locals who have been fighting the border wall for months.
The Center for Biological Diversity, the Friends of the Ruidosa Church — a historic restoration group — and Big Bend river guide Billy Miller are suing the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection over the border wall plans.
After hearing hours of testimony from the plaintiffs and several expert witnesses, Judge Cardone stated in a short order from the bench that she was granting the plaintiff’s request for an injunction, stopping border wall construction for the entire Big Bend Sector within one mile of the Rio Grande and within the state and national parks.
The construction pause is in effect until a decision is made on the case.
“The Court finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of at least one of the claims in suit, that there is a likelihood that they will suffer serious, irreparable harm without an injunction, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest weigh in their favor,” the order states.
The order comes at a critical time: Border wall construction is getting underway in Hudspeth County and an earlier court-ordered construction pause for much of the Big Bend region — including Big Bend National Park — expired on September 30.
A key issue in the lawsuit is whether or not the U.S. Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector, which encompasses a 517-mile stretch of the border,is an area of “high illegal entry” — something DHS has asserted in several federal waivers fast tracking the project. That designation allowed the federal government to bypass dozens of environmental and cultural resource protection laws.
Notably, Judge Cardone’s Friday order also declared that the federal waivers for the Big Bend Sector are no longer in effect during the construction pause. While other lawsuits challenging the use of waivers in the Big Bend region have been making their way through the courts in recent months, none have seen a stay of the waivers.
Susan Hays, who is running for Presidio County Commissioner and is involved in the No Big Bend Wall movement, called the order “absolutely amazing.”
“What the court found is that the government had no justification, legally, to issue the waivers in the first place,” Hays said.
“It's what we all knew — to say there is an emergency with immigration or border security in the greater Big Bend is complete and utter B.S.,” she added. “Our eyes can see it. Our ears can hear it. You can’t deny the reality to the people on the ground and thankfully to the federal court in El Paso.”
The Big Bend Sector is historically the least trafficked sector along the southwest border, accounting for just 1.3% of all apprehensions in the last fiscal year.
Among the expert witnesses who testified in court Friday was Adam Isacson, Director of Defense Oversight for the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit that tracks trends along the border. He said that while the Big Bend Sector makes up 28.5% of the southwest border in terms of miles, it consistently sees by far the least traffic in terms of apprehensions and drug seizures, according to CBP data dating back decades.
“It is in extraordinarily distant last place,” Isacson said. “It doesn't play in the same league as the other sectors.”
Other expert witnesses included Jeff Renfrow, ecologist and director of Rio Bravo Restoration, and Bob Krumenaker, who chairs Keep Big Bend Wild and is a former Big Bend National Park Superintendent.
The court also heard from several Big Bend area landowners whose properties are set to be cut off from the Rio Grande river by a 30-foot-high steel bollard wall. Several people held back tears as they spoke about the impact of Big Bend’s natural beauty on their lives and livelihoods — and what they stand to lose if a border wall were to go up.
“[The] wilderness of the Big Bend saved my life,” river guide and landowner Billy Miller said.
Destruction already inflicted on the region — from excavators and bulldozers in the national park to man camps and staging sites on private property across the region — was also discussed at length in testimony.
Bill Addington lives in Hudspeth County where border wall construction has already begun near his family ranch. He told the court the influx of vehicle traffic and construction resembled a "dystopian nightmare.”
When asked for a comment on Friday’s order, a CBP spokesperson said the agency is working with the Department of Justice on next steps. (In a document filed in the case earlier this week, the agencies indicated that they would move to file eminent domain cases against Big Bend area landowners who aren’t cooperating with the border wall soon.)
“We stand by our assessment and remain confident in our legal authorities to secure the border while preserving the unique landscape of the Big Bend region,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Marfa Public Radio.
If the Trump administration appeals Friday’s order, the case will go to the U.S. supreme court.
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