U.S. appeals court stays judge's ruling blocking military funds for
border wall
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[January 09, 2020]
By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. federal
appeals court on Wednesday put on hold a lower court ruling that blocked
President Donald Trump's administration from using $3.6 billion in
military construction funds to build a wall on the country's border with
Mexico.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay
pending the Trump administration's appeal of a Dec. 10 decision by a
federal judge that barred the funding transfer.
In a 2-1 ruling, the panel noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had stayed
an injunction in a similar border wall case from the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
The court also said there was a "substantial likelihood" that the
parties challenging the funding transfer – the county of El Paso, Texas,
and the Border Network for Human Rights - lacked standing to sue the
Trump administration.
Trump has made stemming illegal immigration a major theme of his
presidency and re-election campaign. The $3.6 billion amounts to a third
of the approximately $10 billion that Trump has obtained for border wall
construction during his presidency, a total that comes from
congressional appropriations and redirected Defense Department and
Treasury Department funds.
Trump contends the wall will stem illegal crossings and narcotics
trafficking. Congressional Democrats have portrayed the president's
signature project as divisive and a waste of resources. Congress has
approved funding for wall construction in recent years, but at levels
below Trump administration requests.
Frustrated by Congress, Trump declared illegal immigration to be a
national emergency in February 2019 as part of a plan to access billions
of dollars in Pentagon and Treasury funds to build the wall.
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New bollard-style U.S.-Mexico border fencing is seen in Santa
Teresa, New Mexico, U.S., as pictured from Ascension, Mexico August
28, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
Trump administration officials have pledged to build 450 miles (724
km) of new and replacement barriers along the border by November
2020, when Trump will face re-election. But a number of obstacles,
including legal challenges and resistance from private landowners,
have threatened that objective.
Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan
said in December that the administration may fall short of the
450-mile mark. Morgan specifically cited the federal court
injunction blocking the $3.6 billion funding transfer as an obstacle
to construction.
The Trump administration has erected 96 miles (155 km) of border
wall since the president took office in January 2017, according to
CBP statistics current to late December. All of those structures
replaced existing barriers, but border wall construction in new
areas is under way, the agency said.
Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to build a wall on
the U.S.-Mexico border and force Mexico to pay for it. The Mexican
government, however, has refused to fund the project.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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