Supreme Court allows Big Bend border construction to continue in Texas, siding with Trump

The Supreme Court is allowing border barrier construction to continue in and around Big Bend National Park in Texas, in a win for the Trump administration.

The justices on Monday halted a lower court’s decision last month to pause the construction while the underlying case against it plays out.

In a brief statement outlining its decision, the high court said that the lower one’s injunction “impedes the Government from advancing its ‘compelling interests’ in border security and integrity.”

The statement did not explicitly state which justices supported the decision, though it said that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed with it and would have denied the government’s request to halt the lower court ruling.

Earlier this year, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived environmental laws to expedite the construction of barriers and roads in the Big Bend area.

The move has been controversial, as bipartisan locals have said that the construction could harm the local economy and environment and hamper their ability to recreate in the area.

The administration has said it will not build a large border wall inside the national park but is pursuing other construction activity there.