by Dylan Kresak
President Donald Trump received the green light to resume border wall construction in Texas.
The Supreme Court paused a federal judge’s order on Monday which had halted construction of the president’s southern border wall in Texas, according to the order. After Democrats swept statewide offices in the Lone Star state, the Trump administration can resume building border barriers while legal battles continue.
“The Government’s interest therefore outweighs any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm alleged by respondents,” the court decision stated in part. “The injunction thus impedes the Government from advancing its ‘compelling interests’ in border security and integrity.”
The decision comes less than a week after Texas elected Gina Hinojosa, who will become the state’s first Democratic governor in more than three decades. Democrats also retook control of the state House of Representatives and swept all of the Lone Star state’s other statewide offices up for election.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone — a George W. Bush appointee — prevented construction of the border wall on Oct. 2 while considering several legal complaints from local parties such as a river guide and environmental group, according to the New York Times.
Opponents claimed that building the wall in the Big Bend Sector would “diminish their ability to use and enjoy the area,” the justices added.
The Department of Homeland Security is federally empowered to disregard environmental regulations, the justices concluded was “a clear preference for expeditious border construction over the very harms [opponents] assert,” the NYT reported.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — an appointee of former President Joe Biden — was the only justice who dissented, the order stated.
In reaction to the decision, Texas Democrats opposed it.
Rep. Henry Cuellar said he was “disappointed” the court’s decision to permit a ” border barrier construction to move forward in the Big Bend region, including Big Bend National Park.”
“I have always supported securing our southern border, but that does not mean building a wall everywhere. Big Bend is one of Texas’ greatest natural treasures, and we need to protect it,” he said. “We can have strong border security without damaging our national parks, historic sites, and surrounding communities.”
Rep. Greg Casar called the Supreme Court “corrupt” and “far-right” after it gave the president the approval to “rip up Big Bend with a border wall.”
“No one will be safer or freer. It’s just going to destroy the nature and wildlife that we love at Big Bend,” Casar noted. “Democrats, Republicans, Texans of all backgrounds all agree: leave Big Bend alone.”
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Dylan Kresak is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
