# Supreme Court clears way for Texas border wall

> The high court allows construction to resume in Big Bend while legal challenges continue, overruling a judge's halt to the project.
- Title: Supreme Court clears way for Texas border wall · NPR
- Summary: The high court allows construction to resume in Big Bend while legal challenges continue, overruling a judge's halt to the project. The U.S.
- Keywords: supreme court, border wall, big bend, texas, trump administration, department of homeland security, center for biological diversity, environmental protection, NPR
- Source: NPR — https://npr.org/2026/11/09/nx-s1-6019424/border-wall-big-bend-texas-trump
- Published: 2026-11-09T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: supreme court, border wall, big bend, texas, trump administration, department of homeland security, center for biological diversity, environmental protection, news
## 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
## Key takeaway

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to resume border wall construction in west Texas's Big Bend region on Monday, overturning a temporary injunction.