Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham sent a cease and desist letter on Friday to Customs and Border Protection and federal contractor Barnard Construction, accusing the company of illegally clearing state land in Presidio County, on the U.S-Mexico border.

Background

Buckingham’s letter came less than two weeks after the city of Presidio and Presidio County’s economic development organization sued the Trump administration saying the federal government’s plans to install barriers and other detection technology on the border along the Rio Grande will damage communities and cause flooding in the Big Bend area.

In Friday’s letter, Buckingham told CBP and its contractor Barnard that the latter had trespassed and “significantly altered” the GLO-managed land by using “heavy construction equipment to blade the terrain and remove all vegetation in its path.” The pictures that the GLO provided show land that has been dug up and crushed by excavators.

“This is not about border security — it’s about the sovereignty of the state of Texas. It is absolutely unacceptable for any federal contractor to enter and deface Texas state lands,” Buckingham said in a written statement.

Response and Next Steps

Buckingham said in the letter that Barnard illegally entered three different sections of land, part of a 10,000-acre hunting, recreation and grazing lease held by Trans Pecos Ice LLC, a property management company, but managed by GLO.

The GLO has not received any response from CBP, Barnard or Trans Pecos yet, the agency told The Texas Tribune. The GLO didn’t answer a question about the nature of the project CBP is developing on the land.

In the letter, the GLO urged CBP, Barnard and Trans Pecos to return the land to its original condition and to develop a “proposed reclamation plan to present to GLO for approval.”

Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.