Texas butterfly sanctuary plans to file emergency restraining order over border wall

A butterfly sanctuary in Texas along the southern border with Mexico plans to file an emergency restraining order against the Trump administration to halt construction of the border wall through its property.

The Corpus Christi Caller Times reports the National Butterfly Center was set file the restraining order in an effort to stop the excavator already near its property from beginning construction of the wall while it waits for its lawsuits to work their way through the court system.

{mosads}The restraining order would prevent construction of a 36-foot-tall “wall system” for the time being.

The center’s executive director, Marianna Trevino-Wright, told The Hill the restraining order had not yet been filed as of Friday but would be next week.

The center posted on Facebook Friday showing bulldozing of trees and excavating already under way on a stretch of land near the sanctuary.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a local company a $145 million contract to build the first six miles of a border wall system that wold go through roughly 200 acres of land that is within the center’s property.

A CBP spokesperson told the local news outlet Wednesday that construction on the 100 acres owned by the center has not yet started but is scheduled to begin in mid-February. 

A CBP official told The Hill Friday that the agency can’t comment on pending litigation.

A local Native American group this week protested the pending construction that would cut through the butterfly sanctuary, which also includes graves of Native American people that are under protection.

A 25-mile portion of the border wall that would go through the center was able to move forward after environmental and historic preservation laws were waived in October.

President Trump has made construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border on of his signature promises and is still in negotiations to secure funding for larger portions of the wall.

The center has filed multiple lawsuits to stop construction of the wall and more lawsuits were filed on its behalf challenging the waivers CBP received in October.

A GoFundMe page was set up by the center in an effort to offset some of the legal costs associated with the lawsuits.