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McALLEN — A federal judge upheld a temporary restraining order against government contractors building a border wall along the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, pausing construction until Aug. 27.
Spencer Construction LLC and Royal Concrete Products LLC were prohibited from continuing construction or related work and from entering the property that belongs to Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2, according to the judge’s ruling, which upholds a temporary restraining order issued by a state district court in Hidalgo County on July 30.
The irrigation district petitioned the state district court for the restraining order, arguing that the contractors trespassed onto their property and began work on the border wall without its consent.
The irrigation district, which is a public corporation that distributes water for agriculture, owns a 120-foot strip of land that housed one of its irrigation canals, as well as 60 feet on either side of the canal.
The irrigation district claimed that Spencer, a Tucson-based company, began interfering with and altering the property on July 20, according to the petition. It also alleged that the company’s activities “recklessly allowed large amounts of dirt to fall into the irrigation canal,” which interfered with the infrastructure.
Royal, a local subcontractor, delivered and poured concrete materials for the border wall construction, which the irrigation district said constituted an ongoing trespass of the property and interfered with the infrastructure.
Prior to seeking a restraining order, the irrigation district said it had contacted Spencer demanding that the company halt its work, but that the company did not stop.
Ruben R. Peña, the attorney representing Spencer, said the company is complying with the restraining order, but that it was only acting as a contractor for the government.
“We don’t have a dog in that fight,” Peña said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about the restraining order.
The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge has been a possible site for border infrastructure since President Donald Trump’s first term, given its location along the Rio Grande. Anti-border wall activists protested and held rallies calling for the refuge’s protection, fearing that a border wall would interfere with the environment and the natural movement of wildlife.
Federal lawmakers had secured protections against border wall construction for the site during Trump’s first term, by preventing funds to be appropriated for border wall construction in certain environmentally or historically significant areas.
But last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s signature spending bill, channeled funding for border wall construction that bypassed the appropriations process, allowing construction to move forward at Santa Ana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said that the border wall in Santa Ana will measure 30 feet tall and will include access gates so visitors will still be able to access land south of the wall.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.