A federal court cleared the way Tuesday for President Trump to build his border wall, ruling the administration has the power to waive a series of environmental laws to speed up construction.

The state of California and environmental groups had been counting on the lawsuit to derail the border wall, and the judge’s ruling to the contrary is a major boost to Mr. Trump.

The ruling is all the more striking because if comes Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, who Mr. Trump famously called biased during the 2016 campaign because of his Mexican heritage.

Judge Curiel said he wasn’t opining on whether a wall was good or bad policy — but had to conclude the government has the power to build it.