DHS general counsel James Percival welcomes the 8-1 order
James PercivalGeneral counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, posting on X
Percival recalls calling the district court's order halting wall construction unprecedented and flawed when the government went to the Supreme Court, and says the government just won 8-1.
“When we filed in the Supreme Court, I called the district court’s order halting wall construction “as unprecedented as it is flawed.” We just won 8-1.”
Original post
Original post
Reporting
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.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Post by DHS general counsel James Percival from the department's general counsel account, quoting his own October 21 post that called the district court's order unprecedented and flawed.
Original post
About this source
Post by DHS general counsel James Percival from the department's general counsel account on the day the government asked the Supreme Court to lift the Big Bend injunction.
Reporting
About this source
SCOTUSblog report of November 9, 2026 on the Supreme Court's order in Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church, with the background of the waivers, Judge Cardone's injunction and the parties' filings.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Percival's post quotes his own October 21 post, which said the president received a mandate to build a wall and that the secretary's authority to build it is clear as day.
After the quotation
The Supreme Court's opinion said the injunction kept the government from advancing its interests in border security and cost it nearly half a million dollars a day.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the federal government's border barrier and road construction in Texas's Big Bend region under DHS waivers of environmental laws, which the Supreme Court allowed to resume on November 9, 2026. Percival celebrates the order that lets construction resume and repeats his criticism of the injunction, which defends the construction.
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More from this case
Read the full caseRo Khanna says he will vote to cut off every dollar for the Big Bend wall
“The Supreme Court let the bulldozers back into Big Bend National Park today. It's Stephen Miller's first day as chief of staff. Texas ranchers oppose this wall. A Bush-appointed judge blocked it. In January, Democrats run Congress. I will vote to cut off every dollar for it.”Read statement
Center for Biological Diversity calls the order a horrific decision that clears the way to bulldoze Big Bend
Center for Biological Diversity
“The Trump administration and its contractors are hellbent on destroying one of America’s greatest national parks, and the Supreme Court just gave them the green light ... This horrific decision clears the way for contractors to bulldoze pristine desert and dynamite canyon walls before the courts have even decided whether this destruction is legal.”Read statement
Solicitor General D. John Sauer tells the Supreme Court that Congress clearly authorized the border waivers
“This is no major-questions case. 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.”Read statement
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- DHS general counsel James Percival welcomes the 8-1 order
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The Dispute Index. "DHS general counsel James Percival welcomes the 8-1 order". First published: 2026-11-12. Last updated: 2026-11-12. https://disputeindex.com/events/8694-percival-recalls-calling-the-district-court-s-order