A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that President Trump’s proclamation declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border is unlawful.
The ruling from Senior U.S. Judge David Briones is a major defeat for the president as he seeks to follow through on one of his signature promises from the 2016 presidential campaign.
Briones, appointed by President Bill Clinton, ruled the president’s national emergency proclamation, which diverted money to fund the building of a wall along the southern border, violates the government spending bill passed by Congress this year. That measure provided $1.375 billion for the “construction of primary pedestrian fencing” in the Rio Grande Sector but restricted the use of additional money to build fencing in any other areas of the border.
Trump declared a national emergency to bypass Congress and redirect federal dollars to build the wall after a historic 34-day government shutdown, during which the White House and congressional Democrats, who control the House, were locked in a standoff over funding for the barrier.
Under the president’s plan, $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s counterdrug activities and $3.6 billion in military construction funds from the Pentagon would be used to build the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The $3.6 billion in money for military construction projects would fund 11 border wall projects, of which $20 million was set to be used for a planned military construction project at Fort Bliss in El Paso County and for new wall projects in southern New Mexico.
The city of El Paso and the Border Network for Human Rights challenged the proclamation, arguing the proposed plan to fund wall construction exceeded the executive branch’s authority under federal law and the Constitution.
