Supreme Court Allows Continuation of Border Wall Construction in Texas’ Big Bend

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned five-page order that grants the Trump administration’s emergency request to suspend a district-court injunction that had halted construction of a border wall in Texas’s Big Bend area, including portions of Big Bend National Park. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter.

The majority held that Congress, by enacting the 1996 immigration law that allows the secretary of Homeland Security to waive environmental-protection requirements, expressed a clear preference for rapid border construction that outweighs the aesthetic, recreational and environmental concerns raised by the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs – the Center for Biological Diversity, a river guide and a church preservation group – argued that the project would damage wildlife, public lands and the Rio Grande’s protected river corridor.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans to build more than 300 miles of six-foot-tall vehicle barriers and supporting roads, relying on the waiver authority. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said the wall is advancing at roughly 12 miles per week and is expected to be finished by the end of President Donald Trump’s second term.

"We stand by our assessment and remain confident in our legal authorities to secure the border while preserving the unique landscape of the Big Bend region," CBP said after a prior federal judge temporarily halted the work.

The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the ruling, describing the decision as allowing contractors to clear desert terrain and use dynamite in canyon walls before the legality of the destruction is resolved.

CBP has awarded contracts exceeding $6 billion for border-security upgrades in the area, including steel fencing, vehicle barriers and surveillance technology that the agency refers to as a “smart wall.” The agency has not provided further comment to the newspaper.