Fastrack · Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Resume Border Wall

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to let border wall construction resume in Texas's Big Bend region. The emergency appeal targets an injunction issued earlier this month.

500 miles of project area fall under U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone's Oct. 2 order.
Cardone blocked three Homeland Security waivers of environmental and other regulations.
$46 billion went to Homeland Security from congressional Republicans last summer to finish the wall.
The project mixes walls, vehicle barriers and surveillance technology.

Why it matters: The case turns on a 1996 law letting the Homeland Security secretary waive regulations to build barriers in areas of high illegal entry. A ruling could define the limits of that power.

The Justice Department says this is the first court to override a wall waiver.
The order also covers private and state land up and downriver from the park.

How 12 sources split on this story

Source landscape

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Strong LeftLeftLean LeftCenterLean RightRightStrong Right

Political Bias

Coverage by lean% of 12 sources

12 sources · 13 articles · 42% Left coverage

Where they split: The dispute is whether Big Bend counts as an area of high illegal entry, which determines whether the secretary's waivers were lawful.

Center coverage, 5 sources: The center focuses on the legal fight over waiver authority and calls the injunction a major victory for opposition it describes as bipartisan.

KSAT 12 San Antonio3hTrump administration asks Supreme Court to lift halt on Big Bend border wall WGAL 82hTrump administration asks US Supreme Court to lift halt on Big Bend border wall Bloomberg2hTrump’s DHS Asks Supreme Court to Allow Border Wall in Big Bend NOTUS1hTrump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Big Bend Border Wall Case - The Washington Sun The Hill2hTrump administration asks Supreme Court to allow Big Bend border wall construction

Left coverage, 5 sources: The left frames the appeal around local opposition from ranchers, residents and environmentalists who call the wall wasteful and harmful to the landscape.

The Boston Globe2hTrump administration asks Supreme Court to lift halt on border wall The Independent56mTrump administration asks Supreme Court to lift halt on Big Bend border wall CBS News2hTrump administration asks Supreme Court to allow border wall construction to resume in Big Bend region Political Wire1hTrump Asks Justices to Allow Border Wall Construction The New York Times2hTrump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Border Wall Construction

Right coverage, 2 sources: The right foregrounds Solicitor General D. John Sauer's argument that the injunction is baseless and puts a quarter of the border at risk from cartels.

Washington Examiner1hTrump asks Supreme Court to lift block on Big Bend border wall construction The Washington Times2hDHS asks Supreme Court to bless Trump's border wall construction

What’s next: The Supreme Court can grant or deny the stay at any time. The administration has mostly won on the emergency docket but has lost some key cases.

The underlying lawsuit continues in the Western District of Texas while the injunction stands.
Would the high court address the major questions doctrine claim or only the stay request?
Would leaving Big Bend without barriers redirect crossings there, as the government argues?