President Biden ordered a freeze on further wall construction and acquisitions until his administration can sort things out. The Trump administration rushed through its fence wall building program by utilizing a section of the Real ID Act of 2005 that empowers the head of the Department of Homeland Security “to waive legal requirements” the Secretary “determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads” at the border. That allowed the former administration to suspend 84 separate laws and regulations and proceed without considering the damage it was causing to the environment, to sacred tribal lands, to habitats for endangered species or to the species themselves.

The project caused condemnation of hundreds of parcels in South Texas along the Rio Grande, which marks the border between the United States and Mexico. The condemnation cases are in various stages. Many property owners accepted the government’s offer and settled. Others are in various stages of litigation.