SCOTUS delivers Trump much-needed win on the border — and Sen. Cornyn takes another L

The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered the Trump administration a win at the southern border.

The justices voted 8-1 on Monday to stay a federal judge's injunction barring the construction of border wall in Texas' Big Bend sector.

'A single district judge unlawfully blocked the construction of the border wall across almost one-fourth of the southern border.'

Quick background

In February, then-Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the Department of Homeland Security was going to "construct additional barriers and roads in a segment of the border in the Big Bend Sector" — an "area of high illegal entry" where Border Patrol apprehended over 89,000 illegal aliens attempting to steal into the homeland between fiscal years 2021 and 2025.

To expedite the construction process in the approximately 517-mile area, Noem invoked Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which permits the DHS secretary to waive certain laws and regulations — including environmental requirements — for such projects.

Noem's successor, Markwayne Mullin, signed two additional Section 102 waivers covering the region.

The Center for Biological Diversity — a left-wing environmental activist outfit — sued Mullin, the DHS, and Customs and Border Protection in April in an effort to stop the work. The liberal activist group was joined in its legal challenge by a river guide and a non-profit organization tasked with the preservation of a church in Ruidosa, Texas.

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

The plaintiffs cast doubt on whether the Big Bend sector was "an area of high illegal entry" and argued that Mullin had exceeded his statutory authority when he invoked Section 102 to speed up the process.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, a George W. Bush appointee, obliged the plaintiffs on Oct. 2, ordering the DHS not to "build border barrier or related infrastructure, or engage in any construction or ground disturbing activities, in the Big Bend Sector until and unless Defendants comply with all applicable laws."

The case was ultimately kicked up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

SCOTUS weighs in

On Monday, the high court granted the Trump administration's stay of Cardone's preliminary injunction, noting in an unsigned order that "the Government is exceedingly likely to prevail on its argument that the District Court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate respondents' so-called major-questions-doctrine claim."

Rather than alleging a violation of the U.S. Constitution, the plaintiffs had instead alleged that Mullin had exceeded his statutory authority, the Supreme Court noted.

"We have long recognized that 'claims simply alleging' that the Executive Branch has exceeded its 'statutory authority are not "constitutional" claims,'" the high court said in the order.

SCOTUS also recognized that Cardone's injunction both "impedes the Government from advancing its 'compelling interests' in border security and integrity," and is — according to a CBP official — costing taxpayers millions of dollars per week.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter, indicating without explaining why that she would deny the government's application for a stay of the injunction.

The Center for Biological Diversity whined about the outcome.

"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," stated Laiken Jordahl, a member of the group. "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."

James Percival, the DHS' top lawyer, alternatively welcomed the high court's ruling, stating, "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."

"This decision is a monumental win for the American people and the nation’s border security," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by Politico. "A single district judge unlawfully blocked the construction of the border wall across almost one-fourth of the southern border, but was overruled 8-1. Border-wall construction can now continue."

The SCOTUS order on Monday was issued just hours after the San Antonio Express-News published an op-ed by departing Republican Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) condemning the border wall project.

"A border wall is not the best solution for portions of this environment," Cornyn wrote. "... Private property owners and local stakeholders have raised serious concerns that a wall would infringe on property rights, cripple local economies, threaten culturally significant Native American sites and disrupt wildlife."

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