Border wall work can resume in Big Bend, court says

The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume border wall construction in a Texas area that includes Big Bend National Park.

In an unsigned opinion, the court lifted a federal district court injunction that had blocked the administration from restarting the border barrier project in the Big Bend region.

The Supreme Court said the injunction impeded the government's interests in border security and integrity. It said that interest outweighed the aesthetic, recreational and environmental harm alleged by the challengers.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed the lone dissent.

The Center for Biological Diversity and others had sued over the federal government's decision to waive dozens of environmental laws to fast-track the $1.7 billion project across Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park and the wider region.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to build border barriers, patrol roads, lighting and detection technology in and around Big Bend National Park. Bulldozers broke ground in August before Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott announced a pause after local opposition.

Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the ruling a “horrific decision” and said the administration and its contractors were destroying one of America's national parks.