The Dispute Index

James Percival

Portrait of James Percival
Mikaela McGee, U.S. Department of Homeland SecuritySourcePublic domain (U.S. government work)Resized to 1024 pixels high.

James H. Percival is the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was previously chief of staff to Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, held other roles in her office and served as senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. He clerked for Judge Emmett Ripley Cox of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Also known as James H. PercivalWebsite (opens in a new tab)
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What we have documented

We have documented 1 statement by James Percival, in 1 case. Each statement below gives the quotation, its original source and a link to the full case.

Case updates

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Statements by James Percival

Portrait of James Percival

James Percival

Role at the time: General counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, posting on X

Defended or excused

Statement summary

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.”
Read the original post (opens in a new tab)James Percival's post on the Supreme Court order on border wall construction · James PercivalPost on X, November 9, 2026, 3:29 p.m. EST, quoting his post of October 21, 2026
Why we used 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.

Read statementFull case: 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

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.

Case

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

Relationship to this case: Speaker

On November 9, 2026, the Supreme Court stayed an injunction that had halted border barrier and road construction in Texas's Big Bend region. The plaintiffs and Ro Khanna condemned the order; DHS general counsel James Percival welcomed the 8-1 ruling.

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