Crews could start building a private border wall in south Texas in the next few days following a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday that lifted a restraining order against the project.
US District Judge Randy Crane’s order was the second federal ruling in two days in favor of border barriers.
Fisher Industries, a North Dakota-based construction firm, wants to install 4.8km of steel posts about 10m from the US bank of the Rio Grande, the river that forms the US-Mexico border in Texas.
Fisher Industries president Tommy Fisher wants to spend US$40 million on the private border wall — originally promoted by an online fundraising group — to prove that his company can build barriers more effectively.
The US government sued to stop Fisher on the grounds that building so close to the Rio Grande risked changing the flow of the river and potentially pushing floodwaters into Mexico, in violation of treaty obligations.
The US attorney’s office argued that the project could shift the river and the international boundary, which violated the US president’s authority “to conduct the foreign relations of the United States.”
Existing segments of fencing and the small sections that the government is building typically run along the Rio Grande levee or through property a significant distance from the river. The US is working to seize private land to build more sections of wall in Texas.
Crane issued a restraining order in December, but lifted that order on Thursday. He also declined to grant a restraining order at the request of the National Butterfly Center, a nonprofit next to the South Texas construction site.
The butterfly center and environmentalists say that building a border barrier so close to the river could increase erosion and potentially damage other land.
Fisher Industries has submitted documents to the government that argue installing fence posts and clearing and grading the land will reduce flooding, although environmentalists disagree with that claim.
Speaking after the hearing Thursday, Fisher said his work crews were ready to start working tomorrow and could install all of the steel posts in a week.
“We look forward to showing the whole entire world that you can have border protection where you need it,” Fisher said.
On Wednesday, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court’s stay that had prevented US President Donald Trump’s administration from diverting US$3.6 billion from military construction projects to fund 280km of border wall.
The White House on Thursday said that the appeals court’s ruling rightfully lifted an “illegitimate nationwide injunction.”
The 2-1 ruling allows the government to move forward with 11 projects in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The longest and most expensive by far would span 83km in Laredo, Texas, at an estimated cost of US$1.27 billion.
Trump tweeted about the ruling and wrote that the “Entire Wall is under construction or getting ready to start!”
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