The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a Trump administration wall construction project along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, over dissent from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The high court majority said that a lower court was wrong to halt the project because it likely lacked jurisdiction to block the government action.

The administration sought to waive environmental and conservation laws in order to facilitate construction in a region it called the “Big Bend Sector.” The Homeland Security secretary said the area was “an area of high illegal entry” that required more protection.

That prompted a lawsuit from a river guide, an environmental nonprofit and a nonprofit dedicated to preserving a historic church in Ruidosa, Texas. They argued that the secretary exceeded his authority. A federal district court in West Texas granted a preliminary injunction.

Lifting that injunction while further litigation proceeds, the Supreme Court said, in part, that the government’s interest “outweighs any aesthetic, recreational, and environmental harm alleged” by the plaintiffs.

Unsuccessfully opposing the action the court took on Monday, the plaintiffs said that granting the government’s request “would result in the permanent alteration of an irreplaceable landscape that includes Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and nearly 200 miles of the congressionally designated Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River corridor.”

The court’s reasoning came in an unsigned “per curiam” opinion, which is how the justices have been handling some emergency litigation lately instead of simply issuing an unexplained order.

Jackson, a Biden appointee, only noted without explanation that she would have denied the administration’s application.

The post Supreme Court allows border wall construction over Justice Jackson’s dissent appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.