The Supreme Court on Nov. 9 paused a preliminary injunction that had blocked the Trump administration’s border barrier construction in an area including Big Bend National Park in Texas, allowing work to resume while the litigation plays out.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the court’s order.
In an emergency application filed with the high court on Oct. 21, lawyers for the federal government asked the justices to lift a lower court order halting construction of President Donald Trump’s key project that began during his first term in office.
In an Oct. 2 order, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone sided with an environmental group and others who claimed that the project was unconstitutional, breached the separation of powers, and took land from residents.
“This case involves a baseless injunction that halts a major portion of the construction of the border wall,” U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the emergency application. “Moreover, leaving a 300-plus-mile gap in border defenses would act as a dangerous magnet for cartels and other bad actors to exploit as other routes close off.”
The Trump administration argued that continuing construction was crucial because the Big Bend region encompasses nearly one-quarter of the U.S.–Mexico border.
Troy Myers contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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