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Supreme Court allows border wall construction in Big Bend

Summarised from 7 outlets · Updated 10 Nov, 05:49 · Archive

The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to resume building a border wall in the Big Bend Sector of West Texas, including through Big Bend National Park.

The US Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume building a border wall through the Big Bend Sector of West Texas. In an unsigned, five-page decision, the justices granted the government's emergency request to lift a preliminary injunction issued by a federal district judge in El Paso last month that had temporarily halted construction.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only member of the nine-member court to dissent from the ruling, though she did not file a written dissent. The court said that while the plaintiffs in the case—which include the Center for Biological Diversity, local residents and river guides, and a church preservation group—claim that construction would diminish their ability to use and enjoy the area, a 1996 immigration law permitting the secretary of homeland security to waive environmental and conservation protections "reflects a clear preference for expeditious border construction over the very harms respondents assert".

The Trump administration plans to construct more than 300 miles of six-foot-tall vehicle barriers and supporting roads through the Big Bend region. Most of the construction will take place on privately owned land, though 17 miles of barriers are slated for Big Bend National Park. The administration has described the Big Bend area as a critical artery for irregular border crossings and drug trafficking, arguing that wall construction is vital to national security.

Opponents of the project present a different picture of border activity in the region. A federal district judge noted that whilst the Big Bend Sector comprises more than 25 per cent of the US-Mexico border, it accounts for only 0.3 to 2.2 per cent of migrant apprehensions, according to outlets' reporting of her decision. Customs and Border Protection has reportedly been installing 12 miles of barriers weekly along the border, backed by $46 billion in congressional funding.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue that the project threatens the ecological and cultural significance of the landscape, including habitat for endangered species such as the Mexican long-nosed bat. They contend that the construction would destroy iconic sections of the Rio Grande's protected river corridor and undermine conservation protections. The Center for Biological Diversity condemned the Supreme Court decision, with a spokesman calling it "horrific" and saying it "clears the way for contractors to bulldoze pristine desert and dynamite canyon walls before the courts have even decided whether this destruction is legal".

The Trump administration and the Republican Congress have framed border wall construction as a signature priority for immigration control. The wall had been a central promise of Trump's first presidential campaign, with rallies featuring chants of "Build the wall!" The litigation continues despite the Supreme Court's clearing of the way for construction to proceed.

Supreme Court allows border wall construction in Big Bend
Image: Guardian World

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In this story: Trump administration · Supreme Court · Big Bend National Park · West Texas · Ketanji Brown Jackson · Center for Biological Diversity · Rio Grande · Mexico

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log