By Andrew Chung
Oct 21 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to let it proceed with a plan to build a US-Mexico border barrier in a remote region in West Texas that includes Big Bend National Park.
The Justice Department filed an emergency request for the court to lift a federal judge’s order halting wall construction in the region while a lawsuit against the project brought by an environmental group and other challengers plays out.
The Republican president has long touted building or reinforcing barriers along the US-Mexico border as a signature part of his anti-immigration policies. But his administration’s push to extend border infrastructure into the national park, around 250 miles (400 km) southeast of El Paso, has faced opposition from local officials, conservationists and some Texas Republicans.
The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, a Big Bend-area river guide and a group seeking to preserve a historic church in Ruidosa, Texas, that says its fragile adobe structure is threatened by the border construction.
The plaintiffs challenged a series of waivers issued by the US Department of Homeland Security to expedite construction of roads and barriers in the Big Bend region, avoiding the application of a variety of environmental and conservation laws.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the current Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who issued the waivers between February and July, found the region to be an “area of high illegal entry,” requiring additional barriers to control the border.
US District Judge Kathleen Cardone in El Paso issued an injunction on October 2 halting the construction. In an opinion issued later, the judge found that the waivers exceeded the authority of Noem and Mullin.
The Justice Department in its request urged the Supreme Court to pause or overturn Cardone’s injunction.
“Even assuming that the secretary’s waiver authority implicates a question of ‘vast economic and political significance,’ Congress did clearly authorize the secretary both to build border barriers and to waive legal requirements in order to facilitate their expeditious construction,” the Justice Department wrote.
In August, the administration paused construction in Big Bend after the project drew bipartisan criticism over its potential impact on the park’s landscape and wildlife. Crews had begun clearing land in the park for roads and border security infrastructure, prompting protests and lawsuits seeking to halt the work.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
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