A coalition of Texas landowners filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the legal basis on which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has fast-tracked border wall and infrastructure construction across the Big Bend region.
At a news conference in Presidio County, the landowners and the nonprofit Conserve Big Bend announced Monday, Sept. 14, a complaint disputing DHS's decision to fast-track the project and bypass environmental and other reviews because of alleged high levels of illegal crossings.
"Under federal statute the Secretary of Homeland Security is granted extraordinary, expedited powers to construct border barriers and sweep aside dozens of federal protections, environmental laws,
and ordinary due process," said Clara Bensen, board member with Conserve Big Bend. "But, Congress explicitly set a strict legal prerequisite for that extraordinary power: it can only be invoked in designated areas of 'high illegal entry.'"
The lawsuit contends that the area has not reached that threshold.
The Big Bend Sector spans 517 miles — more than a quarter of the entire U.S.-Mexico border — yet has recorded the fewest apprehensions of any Southwest border sector every year for the last 53 years, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the DHS's "high illegal entry" determinations for the Big Bend Sector unlawful, vacate them, and issue a preliminary and permanent injunction against construction of the project until the government complies with the law.
This lawsuit follows a federal judge's August order halting work on border barriers through Big Bend National Park and the region.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas landowners sue DHS to block Trump's Big Bend border wall plans
