Texas Landowners Sue to Block Trump Administration's Big Bend Border Wall Plans
Landowners, ranchers, business owners, and the nonprofit organization Conserve Big Bend have filed a lawsuit to halt the Trump administration's plans for a border wall and other infrastructure in the Big Bend region of Texas. The lawsuit challenges the administration's $46 billion initiative to construct approximately 2,000 miles of 30-foot steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and surveillance technology along the southern border. Plaintiffs argue that the Department of Homeland Security is misusing congressional powers that allow the secretary to waive regulations for border wall construction in areas with high illegal crossings. They contend that this determination is legally and factually unsound for the Big Bend region, citing historical Customs and Border Protection statistics that show the area accounts for only about 1% of arrests despite comprising roughly a quarter of the total U.S.-Mexico border length. The lawsuit is part of broader opposition in Texas, which includes bipartisan resistance fro...
