U.S. federal judge blocks use of some funds for border wall

[June 29, 2019]  (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's use of $1 billion in funds to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico, but declined to issue a permanent injunction.

The Trump administration has sought to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but has so far proven unsuccessful at receiving congressional approval to do so.

In February, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to reprogram $6.7 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for other purposes to build the wall, which states and groups, including California, had challenged.

Workers weld sections of a newly replaced border wall with Tijuana, Mexico near the the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego, California May 31, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

U.S. District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California said the use of the funds for the wall for "border barrier construction" in two areas "is unlawful."

(Reporting by Makini Brice in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)

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