Trump administration asks Supreme Court to resume Big Bend border wall construction

On October 21, 2026, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow construction of a 500-mile border security project in Texas's Big Bend region to resume. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone previously halted work, ruling that Homeland Security secretaries Kristi Noem and Markwayne Mullin exceeded their authority by waiving environmental laws. While federal officials cite 89,000 border apprehensions from 2021 to 2025, challengers stress the sector accounts for under 2.2% of total crossings.

Supreme Court appeal to lift injunction

• ▪Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued in an emergency filing that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone's lower court injunction significantly frustrates federal efforts to stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling across the southern border
• ▪U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone rejected the Trump administration's request to stay her injunction barring border construction in the Big Bend Sector shortly before the Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court
• ▪The Trump administration filed an emergency request on October 21, 2026, asking the Supreme Court to lift a lower court injunction halting border wall construction in Texas's Big Bend region

Big Bend border wall construction scope

• ▪The proposed federal border security project in the Big Bend Sector spans over 500 miles, featuring 30-foot-tall bollard walls from Fort Quitman to Closed Canyon and 17 miles of vehicle barriers inside Big Bend National Park
• ▪Customs and Border Protection began constructing a 47-mile section of wall in the Big Bend region in September 2026 under five awarded federal contracts

Legal challenges to DHS border waivers

• ▪An environmental nonprofit, a professional riverboat guide, and a religious organization filed a lawsuit in April 2026 seeking to stop border wall construction in the Big Bend region
• ▪Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem invoked a 1996 federal immigration law to waive environmental protection and historical preservation compliance for physical border barrier construction in the Big Bend Sector
• ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, appointed after Kristi Noem's dismissal earlier in 2026, issued two additional legal waivers beyond Kristi Noem's earlier waiver permitting Customs and Border Protection to build barrier systems in Texas's Big Bend Sector
• ▪U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a preliminary injunction blocking border wall construction in the Big Bend Sector, ruling that Homeland Security secretaries Kristi Noem and Markwayne Mullin exceeded their legal authority in issuing environmental-law waivers

Public opposition to Big Bend project

• ▪Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott paused border wall construction inside Big Bend National Park until the end of September 2026 following intense public criticism
• ▪Bipartisan Texas lawmakers, cattle ranchers, local law enforcement, and environmentalists protested the Trump administration's Big Bend border wall project after social media posts showed bulldozers arriving at Big Bend National Park
• ▪Opponents of the Trump administration's Big Bend border wall project argued that infrastructure construction wastes funds in an area with historically low illegal crossings and damages Texas wilderness landscapes

Border apprehension statistics in Big Bend

• ▪Court filings showed the Big Bend Sector accounted for 0.3% to 2.2% of total southern border apprehensions between 2021 and 2025, despite comprising over 25% of the U.S.-Mexico border
• ▪The Justice Department stated in court filings that federal agents apprehended over 89,000 individuals attempting illegal entry in the Big Bend Sector between 2021 and 2025