Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift ban on Big Bend border construction

After a federal judge stopped border construction in Big Bend, the Trump administration is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in. The government says the work is essential to securing the border, but landowners warn of lasting consequences. Fox News' Casey Steele is in studio tonight with the new filing and what's at stake here. Casey? Steve, good evening. The National Park is only part of this fight. Much of the proposed work would cross private land, where ranchers and other property owners are challenging the plans. This 39-page DOJ filing asks the high court to allow construction in the Big Bend sector to resume following repeated pauses. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott halted work inside the National Park in August for a review. Then at the beginning of October, a federal judge in El Paso, appointed by President George W. Bush, blocked work unless the government complies with applicable laws. Now the latest legal curveball is an attempt to overturn that ruling. Yolanda Alvarado is with the No Big Bend Wall Coalition. I was expecting this. I knew the measures they were taking to come in and build whatever infrastructure they could. The DOJ argues the injunction significantly frustrates the government's ability to stop the flow of illegal aliens and drugs across the southern border. But court filings put Big Bend's share of annual border apprehensions at no more than 2.2 percent from 2021 through 2025. The sector spans more than 500 border miles and 77 Texas counties. We're all private landowners. There's farmers, there's ranchers. The DOJ acknowledges most of the planned construction will not occur in state or national park land, but rather on privately owned land for which CBP will secure a private right of access. Roads and about 17 miles of vehicle barriers are planned inside the national park, just no 30-foot wall. But opposition groups say any barrier anywhere will damage the environment. What happens upstream will affect what happens downstream in the park. Whether the wall is 50 miles away or 100 miles away, it's still gonna affect what happens in National Park as far as the economy, tourism. And for families along the river, what the justices decide could forever change the landscape. So Fox 4 contacted both the DOJ and the Texas Land Commissioner, Don Buckingham's office for comment, but we have not heard back from either.