A federal judge declined to issue a swift decision in a challenge to the Trump administration’s border control plans within the Big Bend National Park in Texas, even as the government began deploying heavy equipment into the area this week.
The Department of Homeland Security under then-Secretary Kristi Noem waived a series of environmental laws in February that would speed up work along stretches of the border, including the national park and the adjacent state park, saying some kind of barrier was needed to block illegal immigration.
Environmentalists and others sued, saying that the waivers are unconstitutional and that only a small number of people cross through the remote region. The plaintiffs asked the court to grant a summary judgment — or hear both sides’ summary judgment arguments — by the end of August.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, an appointee of former President George W. Bush in the Western District of Texas, turned down the request Thursday, citing the “competing priorities of the court’s docket.”
