The Supreme Court of the United States issued an emergency order. It clears the way for federal authorities to resume border wall construction in West Texas. The unsigned decision pauses an injunction issued by a federal district judge. That injunction had halted heavy equipment operations inside Big Bend National Park. Contractors plan to erect 30-foot steel barriers. The barriers will run along rugged mountain terrain fronting the Rio Grande.
Federal contractors prepared to resume grading operations. The justices granted the Department of Homeland Security's emergency application. The order suspended a preliminary injunction. That injunction had halted construction along roughly 500 miles of border frontage in Brewster and Presidio counties. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted her dissent. The conservative majority did not issue an accompanying opinion explaining their reasoning.
Government attorneys argued that halting the barriers compromised national border security enforcement capabilities along isolated smuggling sectors. Border Patrol sector commanders submitted affidavits. Those affidavits stated that physical barriers remain essential for interdicting illicit crossings. Environmental organizations countered that waivers of statutory conservation reviews violated constitutional separation of powers doctrines. Conservation organizations warned that building heavy steel walls will inflict irreversible damage on fragile desert ecosystems. Heavy machinery operations require carving access roads through designated wilderness areas and steep canyons. Hydrologists expressed concern that heavy concrete footings will alter seasonal flash flood patterns along the river basin. Park visitors and conservationists protested the industrialization of one of North America's most remote public park landscapes.
The high court's emergency order does not resolve the underlying constitutional merits of the lawsuit brought by conservation groups. The litigation will now proceed before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Federal construction crews are scheduled to begin mobilization of steel bollards and heavy drilling rigs within weeks.
