Trump’s Big Bend Border Wall Construction Can Resume After U.S. Supreme Court Ruling

The Texas Tribune

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume border barrier construction in the Big Bend region of West Texas, including the national park.

The decision paused a federal judge’s order last month that halted work because of her concern that the federal government exceeded its authority to waive environmental laws.

In an unsigned 8–1 ruling, the justices put U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone’s order on hold, allowing construction to resume while the Trump administration asks the Supreme Court to review the case. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented but didn’t provide a reason.

“The Government’s interest therefore outweighs any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm alleged by respondents,” the ruling says.

Monday’s ruling is temporary until the Supreme Court decides to hear the case or until it’s settled in the lower court in El Paso.

The ruling was a blow to environmentalists and residents who have said that Big Bend, which includes the counties of Brewster, Presidio and Jeff Davis, does not need a border wall because the rough and desolate terrain already makes it dangerous to illegally cross the border or smuggle drugs. 

The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church, and Danny William Miller Jr., a local river guide, filed the lawsuit in April. It is among six lawsuits against the Trump administration seeking to halt border wall construction in Big Bend.

The U.S. Border Patrol’s Big Bend sector includes 517 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, which accounts for about 1.6% of migrant apprehensions of the entire border. The Trump administration has awarded $7.5 billion worth of contracts to firms to pave roads, erect barriers and install technology in the area.

On Oct. 2, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone halted construction after finding that the challengers were likely to prove the administration exceeded its authority to waive environmental regulations.

The Trump administration appealed her decision to the U.S. Supreme Court because the waiver laws being challenged are written so that they bypass federal appeals courts. 

The Trump administration argued that Cardone’s temporary ruling was baseless because Congress approved the federal government’s authority to waive environmental laws. Trump officials also argued that the delay was costing the federal government $500,000 a day.