Category: Constitution
By The Republic Standard News Staff
The U.S. Supreme Court has suspended a federal injunction that had stopped border barrier and patrol-road work in Texas’s Big Bend region, allowing the Trump administration to resume construction while the underlying lawsuit continues.
The order affects planned work in Big Bend National Park and along the Rio Grande, with construction also potentially extending into Big Bend Ranch State Park. The decision does not resolve whether the administration’s environmental-law waivers are lawful.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued the injunction on Oct. 2. The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church, and a Big Bend-area river guide and landowner sought the order. Their lawsuit challenges federal waivers of dozens of laws used to speed barrier construction, arguing that the waivers violate the major questions doctrine.
The challenged waivers include provisions of the Endangered Species Act, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the National Park Service Organic Act.
Construction Plans and Timeline
Customs and Border Protection plans vehicle barriers and patrol roads across Big Bend National Park, including remote portions of Mariscal Mountain and walled canyons. The Big Bend Sector covers 517 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, more than one-quarter of the border’s total length. More than 500 miles along the Rio Grande could see construction resume under the Supreme Court’s action.
Bulldozers began work near Santa Elena Canyon on Aug. 6. Vehicle-barrier routes were documented on both the eastern and western sides of Mariscal Mountain, while contractors cleared staging areas, established worker camps and drilled water wells across the region.
CBP announced a pause in construction activities on Aug. 17. That pause ended Sept. 30.
In 2025, the Big Bend region accounted for 1.3% of total border apprehensions, while Big Bend National Park accounted for 0.045% of apprehensions nationwide.
Opposition to Project
More than 140 outfitters, local businesses and recreation groups urged Texas leaders to preserve public access to the Rio Grande and stop the project. Texas Sen. John Cornyn also opposed border wall construction through Big Bend.
Laiken Jordahl, the Center for Biological Diversity’s national public lands advocate, said, “If the bulldozers return now, public opposition will only grow.”
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Center for Biological Diversity and the Texas Civil Rights Project. The Center for Biological Diversity says it has more than 1.8 million members and online activists.
Tags: Constitution, Immigration, Supreme Court, Donald Trump