A federal judge on Friday barred further ground-disturbing work on border barriers in the Big Bend region, granting an environmental group’s request to pause construction while a constitutional lawsuit continues. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction after a hearing, ruling that the plaintiffs’ constitutional claims were likely to succeed. The order blocks work in Big Bend National Park and surrounding areas while the case proceeds. The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in April against the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary. The group represents Friends of the Ruidosa Church, which works to preserve a historic Presidio County church, and Danny William Miller, a Rio Grande river guide and landowner whose property in Redford could be affected by the barrier. The lawsuit challenges five contracted projects, arguing they violate the separation of powers and could deprive citizens of their land. The plaintiffs say construction would also damage landscapes and disrupt residents’ ties to the river. During testimony, Miller said a wall across his property would cut off his access to the Rio Grande and change the nature of his river-guiding work. Hudspeth County rancher Bill Guerra-Addington also told the court the barrier would threaten his ranch and access to the river. Zeynep Graves, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, argued that the consequences would extend beyond the natural landscape and affect the wider community. The federal government has argued that barriers and related infrastructure are needed to achieve what it calls “operational control” of the border, defined as stopping unauthorized crossings. The Big Bend sector—which includes Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park—accounts for about one-quarter of the U.S.-Mexico border’s length but 1% to 3% of migrant apprehensions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection each year, according to the figures cited in court. Plans for walls, roads, fences, lighting and sensors in the region are tied to government contracts totaling more than $7.5 billion. Federal contractors had begun bulldozing new roads in the park after the government waived the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act requirements to speed barrier and road construction. The plans have drawn bipartisan opposition among Big Bend residents since they became public in January. Federal officials have defended the work by warning that migrant routes could shift into the region if barriers are built elsewhere and saying infrastructure could protect the park from future cartel activity. Friday’s order came amid a growing legal fight: six lawsuits have been filed over the Big Bend project. On Thursday, a judge denied a temporary restraining order in a separate case seeking to stop work in and around the national park. That work had been paused through September.