WASHINGTON – A coalition of 16 United States states, led by California, have sued President Donald Trump and top members of his administration to block his decision to declare a national emergency to obtain funds for building a wall along the US-Mexico border.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California, came after Trump invoked emergency powers on Friday to help build the wall that was his signature 2016 campaign promise.
Trump’s order would allow him to spend on the wall money that Congress appropriated for other purposes. Congress declined to fulfil his request for $5.7 billion to help build the wall this year.
The White House declined to comment on the filing.
In a budget deal passed by Congress to avert a second government shutdown, nearly $1.4 billion was allocated toward border fencing. Trump’s emergency order would give him an additional $6.7 billion beyond what lawmakers authorised.
Three Texas landowners and an environmental group filed the first lawsuit against Trump’s move on Friday, saying it violated the Constitution and would infringe on property rights.
The legal challenges could slow Trump’s efforts to build the wall, which he says is needed to curb illegal immigration and drugs.
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Michigan joined California in the lawsuit.
The states said Trump’s order would cause them to lose millions of dollars in federal funding for National Guard units dealing with counter-drug activities and redirection of funds from authorised military construction projects would damage their economies.
Trump said on Friday he did not need to make the emergency declaration but wanted to speed the process of building the wall. That comment could undercut the government’s legal argument. ( Reuters)
