Supreme Court Says U.S. Highways Can Be Opened To Mexican Trucks

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the Bush administration can grant Mexican trucks access to U.S. roads without conducting a study of the environmental effects. "Ruling on narrow procedural issues, the Supreme Court said the president has authority to open the border, and a federal agency responsible for truck safety has no say in the matter," says a report by The Associated Press (AP). "Thus, the agency was under no obligation to study environmental effects from opening the border, as a lower federal court had ordered."

In 2002, President Bush ordered that U.S. highways be opened to Mexican trucks, but the issue has since been tied up in the courts, the AP says. "As a practical matter, Monday’s ruling may mean little," the AP adds. "The Bush administration had already begun the court-ordered study and is expected to complete it soon." It was not clear as of Monday whether the study would continue, the AP reported.