Whatever stretches of border wall are currently under construction in Hidalgo and Starr Counties, they are the last portions of wall that will go up. And any land previously slated for construction that has been thus far untouched will remain so moving forward.

That was the message officials had in federal court as District Judge Randy Crane presided over hearings for more than a dozen land condemnation lawsuits Friday morning.

“We are getting near the end of most of the actual wall construction parts,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Smith III in response to a question Crane asked as the slew of hearings came to a close.