Supreme Court clears way for Texas border wall

Supreme Court allows construction to resume

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to continue constructing hundreds of miles of border barrier and security infrastructure in west Texas while court hearings over the effort move forward.

Big Bend National Park at the centre

The federal government's plans have stirred bipartisan backlash for including Big Bend National Park, a beloved stretch of public land known for its sweeping canyons and unspoiled desert landscape.

Court says judge lacked authority

In a five-page decision, the Supreme Court wrote that the federal judge who ruled on the order did not have the authority to weigh in. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter.

Environmental laws can be waived

The court wrote that federal law allows the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to waive environmental protections and conservation laws, showing a clear preference for expeditious border construction.

“clear preference for expeditious border construction over the very harms respondents assert”

Government warns of security gap

In an emergency application in late October, the federal government urged the justices to intervene, saying a gap in border defenses in Big Bend would act as a dangerous magnet for cartels and other bad…

“would act as a dangerous magnet for cartels and other bad actors”

Opponents warn of irreversible damage

The Center for Biological Diversity and local groups argue the plans are unconstitutional and would irreparably harm residents.Big Bend historically sees the fewest encounters along the Texas border despite covering over a quarter of it.

“It allows the dynamiting of national park canyon walls, the bulldozing of pristine desert”