President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to let it proceed with a plan to build a US-Mexico border barrier in a remote region of West Texas that includes Big Bend National Park, Reuters reported. The Justice Department filed an emergency request to lift a federal judge's order halting wall construction while a lawsuit against the project plays out.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso issued an injunction on October 2 halting the construction. In an opinion issued later, the judge found that a series of Department of Homeland Security waivers — issued between February and July by former Secretary Kristi Noem and current Secretary Markwayne Mullin to expedite construction by setting aside environmental and conservation laws — exceeded the secretaries' authority, according to Reuters. The Associated Press and CBS News reported the same finding, describing it as a likely success for the challengers on a 'major questions doctrine' claim.
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's push into the national park, around 250 miles (400 km) southeast of El Paso, has faced opposition from local officials, conservationists and some Texas Republicans, Reuters reported. In August, the administration paused construction in Big Bend after bipartisan criticism over the project's potential impact on the park's landscape and wildlife.
The two sides read the sector's crossing numbers differently. CBS News reported the government's filing cites more than 89,000 apprehensions in the Big Bend Sector from 2021 through 2025, while the plaintiffs say Big Bend ranks last among southwest border sectors, accounting for 0.3% to 2.2% of border-wide apprehensions each year. Those figures are each side's claims in the litigation, not findings by the court.
Source: CBS News / Associated Press, via Immigration Analytics summary
In its request, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to pause or overturn Cardone's injunction, arguing Congress clearly authorized the secretary both to build border barriers and to waive legal requirements to facilitate their expeditious construction. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the emergency request.