On Wednesday, the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a lower court’s decision to halt border wall construction in the Texas Big Bend region.
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking justices to allow the administration to resume building the border wall, saying the Big Bend region has a high illegal entry rate and is a concern for drug smuggling.
“The district court’s injunction significantly frustrates the government’s ability to stop the flow of illegal aliens and drugs across the southern border,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the request for emergency relief, according to CBS News. “The Secretary identified the Big Bend project areas at issue because of the high rates of illegal-alien crossings and drug smuggling in the region over the past several years.”
The Big Bend border wall would span roughly 175 miles across Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties.
However, since President Donald Trump announced plans to build border barriers and roads in February, it has become a point of contention and controversy among local ranchers, business owners, and environmentalists.
Earlier this month, federal Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a temporary injunction blocking the Trump administration from continuing construction in the area after those opposed to the project filed multiple lawsuits to stop the project.
Cardone said that the plaintiffs were “likely” to succeed on the merits of at least one of the claims, that there is “a likelihood that they will suffer serious, irreparable harm without an injunction.”
However, it’s not only locals and organizations that find the construction problematic, as both candidates running to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which encompasses the Big Bend region and Big Bend Ranch State Park, have said they would oppose a border wall that disturbs the Big Bend region.
“I will not be voting for anything that includes funding for a physical barrier that disrupts Big Bend. That is something that I’ve been the leading voice on the conservative side for,” Republican candidate Brandon Herrera said.
Democrat Katy Padilla Stout said she and her campaign are against the wall.
“Our campaign and myself believe in no wall with no exceptions, and you can absolutely take that to the bank,” Padilla Stout said.
The federal government maintains that it has the right to construct the border wall under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which states that the secretary of Homeland Security has the power to waive all legal requirements necessary to ensure expeditious construction of border walls and roads to curb illegal immigration.
Before the case was sent to the Supreme Court, the Trump administration had asked Cardone to pause her decision, which she rejected.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
