Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow border wall construction to resume in Big Bend region

Washington- The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to allow the resumption for now. construction of a border wall and other infrastructure through a remote region of West Texas which includes Big Bend National Park.

The Justice Department urged the high court to lift a lower court injunction that temporarily bars the Department of Homeland Security from building the barrier or related infrastructure in the Big Bend sector, which covers more than 500 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and 77 Texas counties.

“The district court’s injunction significantly thwarts the government’s ability to stop the flow of illegal aliens and drugs across the southern border,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the emergency relief request. “The Secretary identified the Big Bend Project areas at issue due to high rates of illegal alien crossings and drug trafficking in the region in recent years.”

President Trump’s promise to build a wall along the southern border has been a feature of its immigration program over the past decade. But earlier this year, the president’s plans faced strong opposition from lawmakers in both parties, cattle ranchers and local law enforcement officials in Texas, when photos and videos shared on social media showed bulldozers arriving at Big Bend National Park.

In response to the backlash, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott suspended construction inside the park until the end of September. The agency said the proposed border wall would not cross Big Bend National Park, but other infrastructure would, including patrol routes, detection technology and about 17 miles of vehicle barriers.

Construction of a 47-mile-long wall in the Big Bend region began last month, according to CBP. The government has awarded contracts for five border barrier projects in this area along the United States-Mexico border, the Justice Department said.

The Trump administration announced in February that the Department of Homeland Security would build barriers and roads in the Big Bend area. The project involves the construction of 30-foot-high terminal walls extending from Fort Quitman, Texas, to Closed Canyon, located in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Border walls and roads would stretch more than 300 miles, according to the government.

Because of the project’s impact on cultural, recreational, wildlife, and environmental resources, the federal government generally should ensure compliance with federal environmental protection and historic preservation laws before moving forward.

But when then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the plan earlier this year, she invoked a 1996 federal immigration law that gives the secretary the authority to waive any legal requirements deemed necessary to ensure the rapid construction of physical barriers and roads near the southern border to “deter illegal crossings in areas of high illegal entry.” Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who succeeded Noem after her firing, issued two more waivers allowing CBP to build barrier systems.

In response to the decision, an environmental nonprofit, a professional riverboat guide and a religious organization dedicated to preserving the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church along the Rio Grande filed a lawsuit in April to block the Trump administration from implementing the project.

The Trump administration has argued that the tract of land at issue in this case is an area of ​​“high illegal entry” given rates of illegal crossings and drug trafficking. The government said more than 89,000 people were apprehended while trying to enter the United States illegally in the Big Bend sector between 2021 and 2025.

But the plaintiffs said the Big Bend sector ranks last in arrests compared to the other six sectors along the southern border. While the area covers more than 25 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border, annual apprehensions in the Big Bend sector ranged from 0.3 percent to 2.2 percent of total border apprehensions, according to court documents.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone granted the protesters’ request for a preliminary injunction and barred the Department of Homeland Security from constructing border barriers or related infrastructure, or engaging in “any construction or land disturbance activity” in the Big Bend area.

Cardone found that Noem and Mullin exceeded their authority in granting the waivers between February and July allowing construction.

Just before the Justice Department requested the Supreme Court to intervene, Cardone rejected the Trump administration’s request to stay its ruling.