The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume construction of a border wall and related infrastructure in the remote Big Bend region of west Texas, while a legal challenge continues.
In an unsigned decision, the justices lifted an injunction imposed by a lower court that had halted work across a sector covering more than 500 miles of the US-Mexico border, including the area around Big Bend National Park.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she would have rejected the Justice Department’s request for emergency relief.
The Supreme Court said the lower court’s order was delaying construction of barriers and roads and “impedes the Government from advancing its ‘compelling interests’ in border security and integrity”.
The administration had argued that the suspension was obstructing efforts to combat illegal crossings in the area. Solicitor General D John Sauer warned that the pause could disrupt efforts to secure a quarter of the southern border against cartel incursions, drug trafficking and illegal entry.
He also said stopping work risked creating a vulnerability in border protection and causing delays, additional costs and operational problems because construction had already begun.
The challenge was brought by an environmental non-profit, a professional riverboat guide and a religious organisation. They said the project would permanently damage an “irreplaceable landscape” encompassing Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park and almost 200 miles of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River corridor.
“Once habitat is destroyed, vegetation cleared, historic resources damaged, livelihoods and private property destroyed, and wilderness landscapes fragmented by roads, barriers, and associated infrastructure, no final judgment can restore the status quo,” the groups’ lawyers told the Supreme Court.
The case centres on waivers issued by the Department of Homeland Security to accelerate construction. The department issued three waivers for parts of the Big Bend region from February, first under secretary Kristi Noem and later under Markwayne Mullin.
Ordinarily, the federal government would have to comply with environmental protection and historic preservation laws before beginning work. Homeland Security instead relied on a 1996 immigration law allowing its secretary to waive legal requirements considered necessary for the expedited construction of border barriers and roads.
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone had granted a preliminary injunction last month, barring the administration from building barriers or related infrastructure and from carrying out any construction or ground-disturbing activity in the sector. She ruled that the homeland security secretary had exceeded his authority in issuing the waivers.
The administration and its opponents have also disputed whether the Big Bend sector is an area of high illegal entry. The government says officers apprehended more than 89,000 people attempting to cross illegally there between 2021 and 2025.
The plaintiffs argue that Big Bend has the lowest number of apprehensions among the seven sectors on the southern border. Although it covers more than a quarter of the US-Mexico border, annual apprehensions there represented between 0.3% and 2.2% of the total across the border, according to court filings.
Construction of a 47-mile stretch of wall in Hudspeth County began in September. Customs and Border Protection has said the proposed 30ft wall will not pass through Big Bend National Park, although other infrastructure is planned, including more than 200 miles of patrol roads and about 17 miles of vehicle barriers.
