Supreme Court permits continuation of border barrier work in West Texas

The Supreme Court issued a five-page order on Monday that allows the federal government to resume construction of border barriers and related security infrastructure in west Texas’s Big Bend region, pending further court proceedings. The Court held that the district judge who issued the injunction lacked authority to block the project. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter.

The decision notes that federal law permits the Department of Homeland Security secretary to waive certain environmental and conservation requirements, emphasizing the government’s interest in border security. In an emergency application filed in late October, the government argued that a gap in defenses in the Big Bend area could attract criminal activity.

A federal judge in El Paso had previously halted work on 30-foot steel barriers, patrol roads and surveillance systems. The lawsuit challenging the project was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, a regional nonprofit, and a private landowner.

"The injunction is baseless and unprecedented," Solicitor General John Sauer said in the administration’s filing, adding that any unprotected segment would become a focal point for illegal crossings.

The Court’s ruling enables contractors to restart work while the underlying constitutional and environmental claims are litigated.