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The Big Bend border wall fight heads to the Supreme Court. Here’s what could happen next.

The U.S. Supreme Court pictured on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Washington.
Mariam Zuhaib
/
AP Photo
The U.S. Supreme Court pictured on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Washington.

The fight over the Big Bend border wall is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

That's as of last week, when the Trump administration asked the nation’s highest court to allow the construction of border walls and other barriers across the region to continue amid an ongoing legal fight.

The emergency request from the government comes just weeks after a U.S. district judge issued an injunction blocking construction in the Big Bend.

Justice Samuel Alito has asked the plaintiffs in the case — the Center for Biological Diversity, a church preservation group and a local river guide — to file a brief by this Thursday in opposition to the government’s request to continue border wall construction.

For more on the status of the case and what could happen next, Marfa Public Radio reporter Mary Cantrell spoke with journalist Amy Howe, founder of the Supreme Court-focused news outlet SCOTUSblog. Listen to their conversation in the player above.

And find Howe’s reporting here.

This reporting was made possible by generous donations from supporters like you. Please consider making a donation to Marfa Public Radio to fund the journalism you rely on.

Mary Cantrell is a reporter at Marfa Public Radio.