Justice Department asks Supreme Court to lift Big Bend border wall injunction

The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on October 21 to lift a temporary court order blocking border-wall construction and related infrastructure in West Texas’s Big Bend Sector. The administration argues that the injunction undermines efforts to stop illegal border crossings and drug smuggling.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction, ruling that Homeland Security officials exceeded their authority when issuing waivers that allowed construction to proceed. The broader project includes more than 300 miles of border walls and roads, with 30-foot-tall steel bollard walls planned between Fort Quitman and Closed Canyon in Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Construction on a 47-mile stretch began in September. An environmental nonprofit, a professional riverboat guide and a religious organization sued in April to stop the project.

Customs and Border Protection states the proposed wall will not cut through Big Bend National Park. Other infrastructure would enter the park, including patrol roads, detection technology and about 17 miles of vehicle barriers. Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park are separate places.

The Supreme Court is being asked to allow construction to resume temporarily while the legal dispute continues.