Supreme Court Allows Trump Border Wall Construction in Big Bend, Including 17 Miles of Vehicle Barriers in National Park
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, November 9, granted the Trump administration’s emergency request and paused a federal judge’s order that had halted construction of border barriers in the Big Bend region of West Texas. Construction of roads and barriers, including stretches in Big Bend National Park, may now proceed while the lawsuit continues.
In a five-page unsigned opinion, the court said Congress has expressed a clear preference for expeditious border construction, which outweighs any aesthetic, recreational and environmental harm, and said the administration was exceedingly likely to prevail in its argument. Of the nine justices, only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson publicly dissented.
The dispute stems from three waivers issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Former Secretary Kristi Noem issued a waiver in February, and her successor, Secretary Markwayne Mullin, issued waivers in May and July, bypassing a range of environmental and conservation laws to expedite barrier construction after finding the region to be an area of high illegal entry. The administration said construction in the Big Bend sector spans more than 300 miles, mostly on privately owned land, and that the national park would get a 17-mile noncontiguous vehicle barrier system, not the 30-foot pedestrian barrier planned for other areas.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso blocked the project in October. She found that the waivers lacked clear congressional authorization and noted that the Big Bend sector has the lowest rate of migrant apprehensions along the entire border. The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, a Big Bend-area river guide and a group seeking to preserve a historic church in Ruidosa, Texas, which says its fragile adobe structure is threatened by the construction.
The administration had paused construction in Big Bend in August after bipartisan criticism and local protests, and filed its emergency request with the Supreme Court on October 21. Monday’s order only pauses the lower court’s injunction; it is not a final ruling on the merits of the lawsuit, which continues in the lower courts.
(Source: U.S. Supreme Court)
Source: U.S. Supreme Court
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国最高法院大楼黄昏全景（华盛顿）。Joe Ravi 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The U.S. Supreme Court Building at dusk in Washington. By Joe Ravi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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