Trump Asks Supreme Court to Restart Big Bend Border Wall Construction

President Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to let border wall construction resume in Big Bend National Park in West Texas, a remote region about 250 miles southeast of El Paso.

The Justice Department filed an emergency request asking the court to lift an injunction that has halted work while a lawsuit against the project plays out. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices the government urgently needs the barrier to stop immigrants and drugs crossing illegally, Bloomberg Law reported.

A judge in El Paso stopped the work

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso issued an injunction on October 2 halting construction. In an opinion issued later, she found that waivers used to speed the project exceeded the authority of the homeland security secretaries who issued them. Bloomberg Law reported that Cardone said the Department of Homeland Security was probably violating the law by trying to skirt environmental requirements, and that she blocked construction over a 300 mile stretch.

The waivers were issued between February and July by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the current secretary, Markwayne Mullin. Both found the region to be an area of high illegal entry that required added barriers to control the border, Reuters reported. The waivers let the department expedite roads and barriers without applying a range of environmental and conservation laws.

Who is suing, and what is at stake

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. The church group says its fragile adobe structure is threatened by the construction.

Trump has long touted building or reinforcing barriers along the U.S. Mexico border as a signature part of his immigration policy. The push into Big Bend has faced opposition from local officials, conservationists and some Texas Republicans, who warn about harm to the park landscape and wildlife.

In August, the administration paused construction in Big Bend after the project drew bipartisan criticism. Crews had begun clearing land in the park for roads and border security infrastructure, prompting protests and the lawsuits that followed.

What the government argues

In its request, the Justice Department argued that Congress clearly authorized the secretary to build barriers and to waive legal requirements to speed that work. The department wrote that even if the waiver authority raises a question of vast economic and political significance, Congress did authorize both the barriers and the waivers.

The Supreme Court has not yet responded to the emergency request. If the justices lift the injunction, work could resume while the underlying lawsuit continues. If they leave it in place, the halt stays while the case moves through the lower courts.