The Supreme Court declined environmental groups' requests to stop the construction of Donald Trump’s border while the administration pushes for an appeals court loss. The 5-4 order indicates a loss for environmental groups represented the American Civil Liberties Union, which requested the justices to lift last year's order that enabled the government to continue constructing the wall pending appeals.
This is a major win for Trump, who has made the building of the wall a centerpiece of his presidency. The debatable portions of the wall are in California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Justice Stephen Breyer, along with Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
Breyer said by the time the court reaches the case on the merits, the portion of the wall in question is likely to already be complete. He wrote that the court's decision to allow construction to continue may operate in effect as a final judgment, CNN reported.
The vote was 5 to 4, with the court's more conservative members being the majority. The brief order was neither signed nor did it give a reason, something the court does in case of an emergency application.
The same 5 to 4 vote last year made the court to allow the administration to use $2.5 billion in Pentagon money to construct the wall on the southwestern border as the case moved forward in the lower courts. A divided, 3-judge-panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, ruled against Trump's administration, claiming Congress did not authorize the spending.
The Supreme Court's previously passed order allowing the construction of the wall remains in place and is unlikely to expire unless the court turns down the administration’s petition seeking review or decides to hear the administration’s appeal and rules on it, The New York Times reported.
A staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project Dror Ladin released a statement after the Supreme Court passed the order, saying that the fight will continue. Referring to lower court rulings against the wall, Ladin asserted that the high court wasn't permanent and not the final say on the case.
He went on to say that they will return before the Supreme Court to stop Trump from building his prejudiced wall once and for all. The administration says the wall can be taken down if they prevail, and they hold them to their word and remove every mile of unlawful wall constructed, Ladin added.
Before the order was issued, Ladin said if the Supreme Court did not lift its own stay the wall would be built by the time the court decides whether or not to take the case. The Department of Justice lawyers requested the justices to leave their stay in place, claiming that the government will be asking the Supreme Court to take up the case this month.