US supreme court clears way for Trump's border wall in Texas's Big Bend

The US supreme court has allowed Donald Trump to continue his administration's construction of a border wall in Texas's Big Bend region, including parts of Big Bend national park. In an unsigned, five-page ruling, the nation's highest court granted the Trump administration's emergency request.

The ruling suspends a lower court order from last month that had temporarily stopped the project. Liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only member of the nine-member court to dissent from the ruling.

The case's plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, a Big Bend river guide and a church preservation group. They claim that construction in the Big Bend sector will diminish their ability to use and enjoy the area.

The justices noted, however, that Congress's enactment of immigration law, which permits the secretary of homeland security to waive the requirements of environmental-protection and other conservation laws, reflects a clear preference for expeditious border construction over the very harms the plaintiffs assert.

The justices wrote that the government's interest therefore outweighs any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm alleged by the plaintiffs. That reasoning was the basis for lifting the lower court's halt.

The Trump administration plans to construct more than 300 miles of six-foot-tall vehicle barriers and supporting roads. It relies on a 1996 law that authorizes the homeland security secretary to waive all legal requirements, including environmental and conservation protections, in areas designated as having high levels of illegal border crossings.

The plaintiffs argue that the project threatens wildlife and public lands. They say it could destroy iconic sections of the Rio Grande's protected river corridor and undermine the carefully wrought web of laws meant to protect a vast universe of biological, historic, cultural, and other interests.

A Customs and Border Protection map shows plans for barriers and patrol roads across Big Bend national park, including remote areas that would require extensive dynamite blasting. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, construction is also planned in isolated canyons where there have been no documented unauthorized vehicle crossings.

The border wall plans have also faced bipartisan opposition from local residents, many of whom warn that construction could threaten their livelihoods and disrupt their communities.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said the wall, which is being built out at about 12 miles a week, is expected to be completed by the end of Trump's second term. CBP has awarded five contracts worth more than $6bn for border security upgrades in Big Bend.

Those contracts cover 30-ft steel fencing, vehicle barriers and surveillance technology, which the agency calls its "smart wall". Following a federal judge's ruling that temporarily halted the construction in October, CBP said it stood by its assessment and remained confident in its legal authorities.

The Center for Biological Diversity condemned the supreme court's decision. It said the decision clears the way for contractors to bulldoze pristine desert and dynamite canyon walls before the courts have even decided whether this destruction is legal.

The center added that the destruction already seen in Big Bend unleashed a firestorm of outrage so severe that the administration was forced to pause its plans. If the bulldozers return now, public opposition will only grow, it said. In its view, the damage done to Big Bend will be felt for future generations of Texans and Americans.

The Guardian said it has reached out to CBP for comment on the supreme court's latest ruling.