Supreme Court Greenlights Trump Border Wall In State That Just Turned Blue

The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to resume building border barriers in Texas while legal challenges continue. It paused a lower court order that had stopped construction, finding the government’s border security interests outweighed opponents’ claimed harms to the area.

The construction ban was issued on 2 October by US District Judge Kathleen Cardone as she considered complaints from local parties, including a river guide and an environmental group. Opponents said the work would limit their use and enjoyment of the Big Bend area; the court order said federal law allows the Department of Homeland Security to set aside environmental rules for border construction. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter. The ruling came less than a week after Democrat Gina Hinojosa was elected Texas governor and Democrats won other statewide offices and control of the state House.