The administration of President Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to allow work to resume on a planned border wall through the Big Bend region of West Texas, part of its anti-immigration policy aimed at tightening security along the border with Mexico.
According to Al Jazeera, the Justice Department filed an emergency application on Wednesday asking the high court to lift an injunction issued by a federal district judge. The order has paused construction while a lawsuit brought by an environmental group and other opponents proceeds.
The Department of Homeland Security's plan includes vehicle barriers, patrol roads, lighting and detection technology in and around Big Bend National Park.
Big Bend accounts for roughly 805 km of the border, and according to the project's opponents – who sued the administration – the area is the site of only about 1 percent of immigrant apprehensions.
Legal background and controversy
The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs including the Center for Biological Diversity and a river guide in the Big Bend area, seeks to protect the landscape, preserve a historic church and challenge the federal government's waivers of environmental and heritage laws to speed up the $1.7 billion project.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and current Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who issued the waivers between February and July, designated the area a "high illegal entry" zone requiring additional barriers for border control.
Federal Judge Kathleen Cardone issued the injunction in El Paso on October 2, halting construction "until and unless the defendants comply with all existing laws," according to her order. In a later opinion, the judge concluded that the waiver decisions by Noem and Mullin exceeded their authority.
In its application, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to stay or overturn Cardone's injunction. The Supreme Court has not yet responded to the appeal.
"Even assuming that the Secretary's waiver authority concerns a matter of 'tremendous economic and political significance,' Congress clearly gave the Secretary authority both to construct border barriers and to waive legal requirements to facilitate their expeditious construction," the Justice Department wrote in its filing.
In August, the administration paused construction at Big Bend after the project drew bipartisan criticism over its potential impact on the national park's landscape and wildlife.
