Mary Cantrell | Marfa Public Radio

Facilities set to house hundreds of border wall construction workers have cropped up in remote Big Bend communities, prompting complaints from locals to state regulators over public health concerns. An investigation by Marfa Public Radio reveals the state's response to those complaints has been hindered by the Trump administration's move to bypass federal laws for the $7 billion project.

The Trump administration on Thursday asked a federal judge to allow border construction to resume across the Big Bend region. The administration says it plans to take the case to the Supreme Court.

At a Friday hearing in El Paso, a U.S. District Judge ordered all construction on the Big Bend area border wall project to stop immediately — including in Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. The order also included the stay of federal waivers that expedited the project.

Pacifico Energy, the company developing a massive natural gas power plant and data center owned by Amazon in Pecos County, met with officials in neighboring Brewster County this week about the possibility of a similar project northwest of Alpine.

A federal judge on Sunday rejected a Presidio, Texas entity's request to block construction over claims that the Trump administration violated the Rivers and Harbors Act in pursuing the border wall build near the city's levee system.

Texas General Land Office Commissioner Dawn Buckingham on Friday sent cease and desist letters to Barnard Construction and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, claiming the border wall contractor had performed "illegal" land clearing work on state-owned land in southern Presidio County.

Public records show Ryan Seiders, co-founder of global lifestyle and outdoor brand YETI, is one of the owners of the Moody Bennett Ranch in the state's Big Bend region. The ranch, which lies in the path of the Trump administration's planned border wall, has been involved in construction activities getting underway in the region.

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have started meeting with Big Bend area landowners about the prospect of border walls on their land. Landowners say they're concerned about flood risks and the destruction of archeological sites.

Advocates are rushing to help landowners with legal aid in sparsely populated rural areas along the Rio Grande in the path of the border wall. The federal government's efforts to contact landowners about the project has hit a snag due to complicated land ownership.