Center for Biological Diversity calls the order a horrific decision that clears the way to bulldoze Big Bend

Where this statement fits

Supreme Court lets border construction resume in Texas's Big Bend while a waiver lawsuit continues; the Center for Biological Diversity condemns the order, and DHS's top lawyer welcomes it

On November 9, 2026, the Supreme Court granted the federal government's request to pause a preliminary injunction that had blocked border barrier and road construction in the Big Bend Sector of Texas, which includes Big Bend National Park. In an unsigned opinion in Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, the Court said the government was very likely to win its argument that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the challengers' major-questions claim, because the 1996 law that lets the Homeland Security secretary waive legal requirements for border construction allows courts to hear only constitutional claims. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the request. The challengers are the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Ruidosa Church and a Big Bend-area river guide and landowner. The Center called the order horrific and said it clears the way to bulldoze desert and blast canyon walls before the courts decide whether the work is legal. DHS general counsel James Percival welcomed what he called an 8-1 win. The order pauses the injunction while the government seeks further review and does not decide the lawsuit.