U.S. Federal Court Injunction Partially Blocks Border Wall
A federal judge on Friday, May 24, partially blocked the
Trump administration from building parts of a wall along the
southern border and blocked the transfer of nearly $1 billion in
funds from the Defense Department to pay for it.
U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. of the Northern
District of California granted a temporary injunction in the
lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] on behalf of
The Sierra Club and The Southern Border Communities
Coalition.
Following the end of a congressional budget fight in
February
that left President Donald Trump without the money he asked for
his border wall, he declared a national emergency in order to
shore up funds from the Defense Department for its
construction.
Finding that construction in parts of Texas and Arizona
may
cause "irreparable harm" to the environment and that plaintiffs
were "likely to show" the Trump administration "exceeded their
statutory authority," Judge Gilliam said the temporary injunction
was warranted.
Gilliam referred to the separation of powers between the
three
branches of government, particularly the Legislature's power of
allocating funding. "Congress's 'absolute' control over federal
expenditures -- even when that control may frustrate the desires
of the Executive Branch regarding initiatives it views as
important -- is not a bug in our constitutional system," Gilliam
wrote in the 56-page ruling. "It is a feature of that system, and
an essential one."
Judge Gilliam cited James Madison's Federalist Papers on
the
importance of limiting the executive branch from taking powers
belonging to other government branches. "In short, the position
that when Congress declines the Executive's request to
appropriate funds, the Executive nonetheless may simply find a
way to spend those funds 'without Congress' does not square with
fundamental separation of powers principles dating back to the
earliest days of our Republic," Gilliam wrote.
The ACLU argued that the emergency declaration was used
unlawfully to gather funding for the wall after Congress denied
President Trump the more than $5 billion he asked for. ACLU staff
attorney Dror Ladin said the court blocked all the wall projects
currently slated for immediate construction.
Gloria Smith, managing attorney for The Sierra Club,
said the
ruling was a win for the environment as well. "Walls divide
neighbourhoods, worsen dangerous flooding, destroy lands and
wildlife, and waste resources that should instead be used on the
infrastructure these communities truly need," Smith said.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 22 - June 15, 2019
Article Link:
U.S. Federal Court Injunction Partially Blocks Border Wall
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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