A tribal nonprofit and an outdoor recreation company on Friday asked a federal judge to block border wall-related construction in Big Bend National Park, arguing that the project is contrary to U.S. law and threatens constitutionally protected religious freedoms.
Continued construction of the wall and related projects — including roads, drainage structures, erosion controls, safety features, lighting, cameras and sensors — will cause irreplaceable damage to archaeological sites within the park, including areas associated with indigenous peoples, the lawsuit said.
“Once an archaeological site is excavated by heavy machinery, once the physical context of artifacts is destroyed, or once a sacred or culturally significant landscape is permanently altered, the injury is irreparable,” said the lawsuit, filed in San Antonio federal court.
The People of La Junta for Preservation, a nonprofit associated with the Lipan Apache community, sued the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to halt work begun under a June 9 order from Secretary Markwayne Mullin that waived federal and state requirements to allow construction along 62 miles of the border with Mexico. The action, however, did not waive a law that made the secretary of the interior and the National Park Service responsible to protect and develop the park, the lawsuit said.
Christina Hernandez, founder and director of the organization, said construction threatens areas of cultural and religious significance in a region where Lipan Apache lived, hunted and worshiped for generations.
“We are fighting the wall in court because our ancestors did not survive on this land for thousands of years for us to stand by and wait for someone else to come save it —we are here, we are responsible for it, and we will fight for it ourselves,” Hernandez said in a statement.
Other plaintiffs include Far Flung Outdoor Center, a Terlingua business that provides guided river trips and related recreational services in the Big Bend area, and two Texans who practice religious and historical observances in the park.
The Trump administration has moved forward with plans to build vehicle barriers and a patrol road inside the national park as part of its border wall amid bipartisan outcry, including waiving environmental laws earlier this year to expedite construction.
The outcry against building structures in the region, especially in the state and national parks, has increased as visible signs of construction like bulldozers have begun to appear. On Thursday, a bipartisan coalition of 46 state House representatives sent a letter urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call for construction in the region to immediately cease.
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter asking Mullin to meet with area residents before continuing with any further construction.
Cornyn’s request followed a cease and desist letter sent to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a federal contractor in July by Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham for “illegally” clearing land in the Big Bend region.
Despite the bipartisan concern, efforts to halt the construction have largely failed. A proposed ban on a wall in the region failed to pass a U.S. House funding panel in June, and a separate lawsuit from an economic development organization in the region has not hindered DHS’ plans.
Federal officials had until recently been unclear about the extent of construction and whether it would cut through the two parks or wildlife area. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, who initially denied construction would occur in the region, defended the current work in a statement on Wednesday and said CBP would work to preserve local access to the region.
“We are NOT building a 30-foot wall or stadium lighting through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area,” Scott said. “What people are seeing right now is survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall through the park.”
A statement posted on social media Thursday evening prior to the lawsuit’s filing from DHS echoed Scott’s statement and described reports about construction in Big Bend as “fear mongering.”
In early July, a public map outlining plans for wall construction was updated to indicate that 2 miles of 30-foot wall segments would be built in two parts of Big Bend Ranch State Park.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat and a lawyer in Friday’s lawsuit with Dick DeGuerin and Martin Golando, said the goal is to preserve the park “for generations to come.”
“The Trump administration wants DHS to bulldoze over the law just as badly as they have bulldozed America. We will not stay silent as the federal government continues to trample over the liberties of everyday people,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
