A Federal Judge Just Stopped the Big Bend Wall (for now)
The Big News
On Friday, Oct. 2, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered the federal government to stop all border wall construction and ground disturbance across the Big Bend Sector, effective immediately. She issued the preliminary injunction from the bench after an evidentiary hearing in El Paso, Texas.
That matters because the order covers the entire sector, all 517 miles of it, not just the national park. The judge also put the Big Bend waivers on hold. Those waivers allowed the government to set aside dozens of federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, to fast-track construction through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the surrounding region. While the injunction stands, they have no effect.
The court found the plaintiffs are likely to win on the merits and would suffer serious, irreparable harm without an injunction. The order stays in place until the court says otherwise.
We are deeply grateful to the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church, and river guide and landowner Danny William Miller, who brought the case, and to their attorneys at the Center and the Texas Civil Rights Project.
The Lookout: The Fight Is Not Over
There's a narrative taking hold that because a 30-foot steel bollard wall isn't currently planned for Big Bend National Park, the fight is finished. It isn't.
The park is one part of a sector stretching from Fort Quitman to Lake Amistad. Across that sector, border infrastructure is still planned. Communities are still affected, private landowners are still holding the line, and public and ancestral lands are still at stake. A preliminary injunction is a pause, not a final ruling, and it can be appealed.
We welcome every acre spared and celebrate every plan that has changed. But plans changed because people fought to change them. CBP Commissioner Scott's visit to Big Bend ahead of the ruling was an effort to clean up a PR mess created by a lack of transparency, shifting plans, sweeping waivers, and no-bid contracts. That's a reason to keep going, not a reason to go home.
So if officials want to tell Texans the fight is over, our ask is simple: Show us the map. Show us the current plans for all five Big Bend project areas, what's been canceled and what remains, the contracts, the costs, and where construction is planned.
For context: the Big Bend Sector covers more than a quarter of the U.S.-Mexico border and accounted for just 1.3% of all border apprehensions in 2025.
Action Items
Share the news. Repost our announcement and tag a friend who loves Big Bend.
Keep the pressure on. Call your representatives, thank anyone who spoke up, and ask them to demand the map. Find yours at wrm.capitol.texas.gov.
Know someone in Houston, Texas? Send them the screening link. All proceeds benefit No Big Bend Wall.
Support the work. This fight is far from over. Donate here.
Calendar
Houston Screening of The River and the Wall
Saturday, Oct. 10, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
The River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray St., Houston, Texas
Foltz Fine Art presents a benefit screening of Ben Masters' documentary, with all proceeds going to No Big Bend Wall. It opens with a 6:00 p.m. panel, "The State of Big Bend," moderated by J. David Goodman of The New York Times, featuring Cary Dupuy, James Evans, Jay Kleberg, and Evelyn Merz. The film starts at 7:00.
Since February, this community has shown up again and again. We'll keep fighting for Big Bend. All of it.
With big love for Big Bend,
No Big Bend Wall
