Landowners in Texas ask court to stop Trump border wall

Notably, a group of landowners, ranchers, businesses and a non-profit organisation have sued the administration of United States President Donald Trump to stop construction of a wall along the country's border with Mexico in the remote Major Bend region of the southern state of Texas.

Key points

• The lawsuit was filed by Conserve Major Bend and six landowners, with the backing of dozens more individuals along the border.
• But in the lawsuit confirmed on Monday, the plaintiffs argue that when it comes to the Sizeable Bend region, that is not an accurate description.
• "For us, the Big Bend is not an empty place on the map, " he remarked.
• But the region accounted for only regarding 1 percent of arrests, according to the lawsuit.
• In Texas, the effort has run up against numerous lawsuits and bipartisan opposition from sheriffs, elected authorities, tour guides, environmental groups and landowners.

Trump authorities "were woefully unprepared for the hornet's nest they stirred up because they had no idea how much we love this place", David Keller, an archaeologist and historian who specialises in the Sizeable Bend and lives in the region, noted in a news conference announcing the lawsuit on Monday.

"For us, the Big Bend is not an empty place on the map, " he remarked. "It is our home."

For context, the lawsuit was filed by Conserve Major Bend and six landowners, with the backing of dozens more individuals along the border.

It comes as the Trump administration is ramping up a $46bn effort to line the roughly 3, 219km (2, 000-mile) border with a collection of 9-metre (30-foot) steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers and technology intended to keep out smugglers and migrants.

In Arizona, federal authorities are pushing ahead with construction of the border infrastructure, even though it cuts through land belonging to the Tohono O'odham Nation, an Indigenous tribe that has stated it does not want the barrier and that it is unnecessary.

As part of its wall-building efforts, the administration has waived numerous regulations and statutes designed to protect the environment, archaeology or wildlife, on the basis that there is an urgent need to protect the border in what the US Department of Homeland Security has called areas of "high illegal entry".

But in the lawsuit confirmed on Monday, the plaintiffs argue that when it comes to the Sizeable Bend region, that is not an accurate description. They cite historical statistics from US Customs and Border Protection showing how few individuals cross the border in Sizeable Bend compared with other areas along the US-Mexico border.

Major Bend has concerning 805km (500 miles) of border, roughly one quarter of the total length of the border with Mexico from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. But the region accounted for only regarding 1 percent of arrests, according to the lawsuit.

Taken together, the developments around landowners in Texas ask court to stop Trump border wall point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.