Trump asks Supreme Court to lift halt on Big Bend border construction
The administration wants construction to resume in a West Texas border region that includes Big Bend National Park while a lawsuit over its legal waivers continues.
The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on October 21 to let border construction resume in the Big Bend region of West Texas, which includes Big Bend National Park. A federal judge’s injunction currently blocks the work while a lawsuit over the project continues.
The Justice Department asked the justices to pause or overturn the injunction issued by US District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the order ‘significantly frustrates’ the government’s ability to stop illegal crossings and drug trafficking, CBS News reported. The Supreme Court had not ruled on the emergency request in the reports published October 21.
Why the Big Bend construction was blocked
Cardone issued the injunction on October 2, barring border barriers, related infrastructure and ground-disturbing work in the Big Bend Sector. She found that Homeland Security secretaries Kristi Noem and Markwayne Mullin had exceeded their authority in issuing waivers between February and July to speed construction. Cardone rejected the administration’s request to pause her order shortly before it turned to the Supreme Court, CBS reported.
The waivers bypassed environmental and conservation requirements for roads and barriers, Reuters reported. 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. Construction inside the park had already been paused in August after bipartisan criticism of its potential effects on the landscape and wildlife; crews had begun clearing land for roads and security infrastructure.
What the project would build
The border agency says the proposed wall itself would not cut through Big Bend National Park, but patrol roads, detection technology and about 17 miles of vehicle barriers would enter it, according to CBS. The agency said construction of a 47-mile wall stretch in the broader region began in September. The government has awarded contracts for five border-barrier projects there, the Justice Department said.
The administration calls the project area a place of ‘high illegal entry’ and cited more than 89,000 apprehensions in the Big Bend Sector from 2021 through 2025, CBS reported. The challengers dispute that characterization. They said the sector ranked last among the six southern border sectors for apprehensions and accounted for 0.3% to 2.2% of annual border-wide apprehensions despite covering more than a quarter of the border, according to court filings described by CBS.
The Supreme Court request is the latest step after the earlier halt to construction covered in NewsJaws’ report on the Big Bend injunction. Whether work can resume now depends on the justices’ response to the administration’s emergency application.
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Sources and context
- Trump asks US Supreme Court to allow Big Bend border wall constructionThe Straits Times, republishing Reuters reporting
- Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow border wall construction to resume in Big Bend regionCBS News
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.