PHOTO ESSAY: Border wall cuts through wildlife refuge

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A U.S. Border Patrol agent stands near a new section of border wall at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Traffic posts stand around a trench as part of the construction for a new section of border wall at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, Texas, as a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle passes through, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent stands near a new section of border wall at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Audio By Carbonatix

4:02 AM on Monday, September 14

By ERIC GAY and VALERIE GONZALEZ

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — A segment of border wall erected in late July stands incomplete along the edge of a wildlife refuge in Alamo, Texas, after a lawsuit halted work.

Lush public land in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a corridor for hundreds of thousands of birds and butterflies migrating to South America. Visitors glimpse rare species, walk trails and take in views from an iconic suspended bridge.

The refuge is home to armadillos, warblers, bats, snakes and two endangered cat species that run through its over 2,000 acres (about 809 hectares). An irrigation canal hugs the northern perimeter of the refuge, connecting water with farmland in this agriculture hub.

Border Patrol agents working the dense foliage patrol the park on bicycles and set up a rescue beacon with a push button that signals to them if anyone needs to be rescued, though it’s mostly used by hikers who get lost on the winding trails. Border walls are part of the landscape built under the Bush and Obama administrations to deter illegal crossings.

In late July, the Trump administration began erecting more wall — but Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2, which manages a canal near the refuge, filed a lawsuit last month saying the construction company entered its property without consent and began dumping “significant dirt” into its canal. An order paused construction until mid-October and remains in litigation.

The lawsuit is one of several attempting to stop construction along protected or public lands as the administration races ahead with efforts to build a $46 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexico border from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. A lawsuit failed last month to halt the construction in Presidio, Texas after arguing the wall could cause flooding problems.

Construction in Southern Arizona in late August pressed forward through a Native American tribe's reservation in spite of objections. In West Texas, construction in Big Bend National Park drew public outrage from both sides of the political aisle.

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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.