By NOMAAN MERCHANT
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) - The nonprofit National Butterfly Center has asked a federal judge to stop border wall activity on its property as the Trump administration gears up to build new barriers in South Texas and may soon win funding for more.

In a motion filed late Monday, center director Marianna Trevino Wright says heavy machinery has been driving through their property for a week, including a road grader accompanied by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle.

The government says it will start this month on the first of 33 miles (53 kilometers) of new walls and fencing. Congress funded construction last year.

Congressional negotiators trying to avoid a second government shutdown reached an agreement Monday to fund an additional 55 miles (88 kilometers) of barriers in the Rio Grande Valley.

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