Subscribe to The Y’all — a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.
McALLEN — A federal judge is considering whether the federal government and its contractors trespassed on property owned by a local irrigation district when they began construction of a border wall along the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.
Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 argued during a court hearing Wednesday that government contractors, Spencer Construction LLC and Royal Concrete Products LLC, trespassed on 120 feet of land the district owns around one of its irrigation canals when they erected a border wall along the Santa Ana refuge.
Anthony Stambaugh, general manager for the irrigation district, testified before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis, that placement of the border wall within their property would tighten the space around the canal, making it difficult for crews to conduct maintenance or repairs on the canal in a timely manner.
Lance Kirby, the attorney for the irrigation district, told the judge the issue would be resolved if the border were built 15 to 20 feet south of the current alignment.
An attorney representing the U.S. government, Lance Duke, argued that Texas trespass law could not prevent the federal government from building a border wall on land it does not own. Kirby, however, pointed out that Texas had successfully accused the federal government of trespassing on its property when immigration agents, under President Joe Biden, destroyed razor wire that Texas had installed near Eagle Pass.
Duke, however, insisted to the judge that a border wall along Santa Ana was inevitable, even if the government had to proceed to obtain access to the property through eminent domain.
Alanis is expected to issue a ruling in two weeks.
A temporary restraining order pausing construction is currently in place. It expires on Aug. 27, though the judge is expected to extend the pause until he issues a final order.
The restraining order was first issued by a state district court judge in Hidalgo County on July 30. It prevents Spencer Construction LLC and Royal Concrete Products LLC from continuing construction or related work and from entering the property that belongs to the irrigation district.
It petitioned the state district court for the restraining order, arguing that the contractors trespassed onto their property and began work on the border wall without its consent. The federal government removed the case to federal court on Aug. 12. The next day, Alanis issued the order extending the existing restraining order until Aug. 27.
The irrigation district, which is a public corporation that distributes water for agriculture and serves several cities in the Rio Grande Valley, owns a 120-foot strip of land that housed one of its irrigation canals, as well as 60 feet on either side of the canal.
The district claimed that Spencer, a Tucson-based company, began interfering with and altering the property on July 20, according to the petition. It also alleged that the company’s activities “recklessly allowed large amounts of dirt to fall into the irrigation canal,” which interfered with the infrastructure.
Royal, a local subcontractor, delivered and poured concrete materials for the border wall construction, which the irrigation district said constituted an ongoing trespass of the property and interfered with the infrastructure.
Prior to seeking a restraining order, the irrigation district said it had contacted Spencer demanding that the company halt its work, but that the company did not stop.
Ruben R. Peña, the attorney representing Spencer, said the company is complying with the restraining order, but that it was only acting as a contractor for the government.
“We don’t have a dog in that fight,” Peña said.
In response to the restraining order, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the agency was working with U.S. Department of Justice on the next steps.
The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge has been a possible site for border infrastructure since President Donald Trump’s first term, given its location along the Rio Grande. Anti-border wall activists protested and held rallies calling for the refuge’s protection, fearing that a border wall would interfere with the environment and the natural movement of wildlife.
Federal lawmakers had secured protections against border wall construction for the site during Trump’s first term, by preventing funds to be appropriated for border wall construction in certain environmentally or historically significant areas.
But last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s signature spending bill, channeled funding for border wall construction that bypassed the appropriations process, allowing construction to move forward at Santa Ana.
CBP has said that the border wall in Santa Ana will measure 30 feet tall and will include access gates so visitors will still be able to access land south of the wall.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
