Trump officials ask SCOTUS to greenlight Big Bend border wall

Federal prosecutors have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a lower court ruling and allow border wall construction in western Texas to resume, according to a Wednesday filing. Several advocacy groups sued over the Trump administration’s plan to build a wall and other infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico border, including areas of Big Bend National Park. Opponents of the project began protesting its construction in August, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials paused the project soon after.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction earlier this month that barred the Department of Homeland Security from building any infrastructure within the Big Bend area. The Trump administration’s Wednesday filing asks the Supreme Court to place that injunction on hold, arguing it is preventing the government from effectively securing the border from illegal crossings and drug trafficking. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer characterized the lower court injunction as baseless, noting the authority of federal officials to build barriers and roads to deter illegal crossings under the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.