Politics · United States · 9 hrs ago
Supreme Court clears way for border wall construction in Big Bend
The Supreme Court allowed border construction to resume in Texas’s remote Big Bend region, including parts of Big Bend National Park.
The ruling lifts a lower court order that had temporarily paused the work while a lawsuit proceeds.
The Trump administration plans to build more than 300 miles of barriers and supporting roads along this part of the US-Mexico border.
It is relying on a 1996 law that lets the homeland security secretary waive environmental and other legal requirements for border construction.
Plaintiffs, including conservationists, a local river guide and a church group, say the project could damage wildlife, public lands and culturally important sites.
The court said the government’s interest in moving quickly on border security outweighed the harms the challengers described, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to dissent.
The legal challenge continues as construction moves forward under the ruling.
The US Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to resume border wall construction in Texas’s Big Bend region, including parts of Big Bend National Park.
The unsigned ruling lifted a lower court order that had temporarily halted construction while litigation continues.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice identified as opposing the government’s request.
The plaintiffs say the project threatens wildlife, public lands and culturally significant sites, while the administration argues it is needed for border security.
The court said federal law reflects a preference for expeditious border construction over the harms alleged by the plaintiffs.
- Who
- The Trump administration and the plaintiffs, including the Center for Biological Diversity, a local river guide and a church preservation group.
- What
- The Supreme Court lifted a lower court order temporarily stopping border wall and related infrastructure construction. The case will continue.
- When
- Monday, November 9, 2026.
- Where
- The Big Bend region of West Texas, including parts of Big Bend National Park.
- Why
- The administration says construction is needed for border security. The plaintiffs argue it threatens environmental, cultural and historic resources.
Trump administration
Project challengers
Purpose
Trump administration
The administration describes construction as an urgent priority for border security and immigration control.
Project challengers
The challengers say the project would damage an ecologically and culturally significant landscape.
Legal authority
Trump administration
The administration relies on federal law allowing the homeland security secretary to waive legal requirements for border construction.
Project challengers
The plaintiffs challenge the waivers, arguing they sidestep environmental and conservation protections.
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone temporarily halted construction in the Big Bend region.
The Supreme Court lifted the injunction, allowing construction to resume while litigation continues.
- Project length
- More than 300 miles of planned barriers and roads
- Barrier height
- Six feet, according to the Guardian; 30 feet, according to CNN
- Court ruling
- Unsigned decision; Jackson was the only identified dissenter
- Federal law
- 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
- Judge’s estimate
- Big Bend accounts for 0.3 to 2.2 percent of migrant apprehensions
6 sources
Supreme Court allows major part of Trump’s border security project in Texas
US supreme court clears way for Trump’s border wall in Texas’s Big Bend
US Supreme Court allows border wall in Big Bend National Park to proceed
Суд в США разрешил продолжить стройку заграждения в парке Биг-Бенд
Supreme Court allows border wall construction in Big Bend region
Supreme Court allows Trump to continue border wall construction in Big Bend region of Texas
What people are saying
The government’s interest therefore outweighs any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm alleged by respondents
This horrific decision clears the way for contractors to bulldoze pristine desert and dynamite canyon walls before the courts have even decided whether this destruction is legal.
disruption of the government's ability to secure a quarter of the southern border against cartel incursions, drug trafficking, and illegal entry
Therefore, if the Big Bend Sector is an area of high illegal entry, so is every other sector, and the waiver authority would apply to the entire US-Mexico border