OPINION:
The Trump administration recently filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to lift a federal judge’s order pausing construction of a key section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The ability to resume building is critical to the continuation of the administration’s success in slashing illegal immigration, and the high court should allow it.
The contested area is in the Big Bend region of southwestern Texas and near Big Bend National Park. Several lawsuits — including one filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization — have been filed against the administration over the move.
People were interested in these podcasts
Plaintiffs contend that federal environmental and historic preservation waivers granted by the Department of Homeland Security to speed wall construction were unconstitutional. In June, several House Democrats tried to include an amendment in the fiscal year 2027 homeland security spending bill that would ban the construction of barriers near the national park.
Republicans rejected it, and they were right to do so.
As of August, approximately 747 miles of primary border wall and about 126 miles of secondary wall had been built. That is 38% and more than 6%, respectively, of the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
Illegal crossings into the U.S. have dropped to historic lows during President Trump’s second term, and the wall is a major reason, according to the administration.
“We have proven that a wall system — that actually has impedance and denial, physical barriers, combined with access roads so agents can move east and west, laterally along the border, and the latest technology and personnel — can secure the border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said last year.
Leaving Big Bend unsecured while locking down other sections of the border would be tantamount to issuing an open invitation for illegal immigrants — including cartel members and violent gang members — to enter the U.S. at a specific location.
Fewer cartel entries have meant that federal personnel have been able to devote more time to intercepting dangerous narcotics. For fiscal year 2026, the CBP field office in El Paso, Texas, recorded increases in seizures of 119% for fentanyl, 50% for cocaine, more than 230% for marijuana and more than 9% for methamphetamine.
From 2025 to this year, homicides have fallen by more than 18% nationwide, to 4.1 deaths per 100,000 people. That is on par with the post-World War II halcyon years of 1955 and 1956.
Robberies and carjackings both showed double-digit declines in the same period.
The political left can call this a coincidence and then resume its picketing of the Big Bend area barrier, but Americans with their heads on straight see a clear connection between improved border security and a safer America. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will see it too.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.