Judge lets DHS border-wall project near Presidio proceed for now

A federal judge has allowed the Trump administration’s border-wall project near Presidio, Texas, to proceed for now while a lawsuit continues over the project’s effect on a flood-control system and the government’s authority to waive federal requirements.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton denied the Presidio Municipal Development District’s request for a stay late Sunday, August 2, 2026. The ruling permits the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to continue the project while the case moves forward. It is not a final decision on all of the district’s claims.

What the judge decided

Walton found that the development district was unlikely to prevail on the claims presented in its request for preliminary relief. He also concluded that Congress did not intend to limit DHS’s statutory authority to waive federal laws during border-barrier construction.

The decision is an immediate legal victory for DHS, but it does not settle whether the project ultimately complies with every applicable law. The underlying lawsuit remains pending, and the court has not resolved all questions about the final design, engineering review or potential effects on the levee system.

What is proposed near Presidio

The plaintiffs’ court filing describes a plan to build a reinforced concrete wall adjacent to the existing earthen levee, or to replace the levee’s river-facing slope, with 30-foot steel bollard panels on top. The filing says CBP provided that description in communications with the development district and federal flood-control officials.

The Presidio Flood Control Project and connected Cibolo Creek levees protect approximately 52 square miles of urban and agricultural land, according to the filing. The system includes berms and earthen levees along the Rio Grande and tributaries, as well as additional Cibolo Creek levees.

DHS has maintained that the plans were not final when earlier court filings were made. That distinction remains important: Sunday’s ruling allows the project to continue under the court’s current order, but it does not establish that a final engineering design has been completed.

Why the development district challenged the project

The Presidio Municipal Development District is a Texas economic-development entity representing interests tied to the Presidio area. It argues that altering the levee could increase erosion, leakage and high-water pressure and could raise the risk of levee failure or flash flooding.

The district and its supporting declarations point to the area’s flood history, including the 2008 Rio Grande flood. Court filings say that flood overwhelmed parts of the system, led to evacuations and damaged infrastructure before portions of the flood-control project were rebuilt.

Those possible consequences remain allegations and concerns raised by the plaintiffs, not established effects of the proposed construction. The district says the uncertainty could affect residents, property owners, businesses and local economic activity.

The legal dispute over Army Corps review

The case centers in part on Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. The law generally requires authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for work that alters or impairs federally built levees and related flood-control projects.

DHS added the Rivers and Harbors Act to a Big Bend border-wall waiver notice on July 2, according to reporting by WTOP and The Associated Press. The parties disagree over the legal effect of that waiver and whether DHS can use its statutory waiver authority to bypass the usual Army Corps review requirements.

The waiver is not the same thing as Army Corps engineering approval. Walton’s ruling did not establish that the project has received every potentially relevant technical or interagency approval, and the parties continue to dispute what review is required.

What happens next

Project activity can continue for now, but the district-court case remains active. The parties may seek reconsideration or appeal, while future proceedings could address the waiver authority, the Rivers and Harbors Act, the final wall design and the engineering safeguards for the levees.

For people who live or own property near Presidio’s flood-control system, the immediate issue is not only whether construction proceeds but what is ultimately built and how it is engineered. Important developments to watch include final construction plans, any Army Corps or interagency action and additional rulings in the case.

Sources

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