Published 11:27 IST, December 11th 2019
US judge rules against transfer of $3.6 billion funds to Mexican border wall
US Judge ruled out a verdict against the US President Donald Trump’s use of the $3.6 billion funds in the construction of the wall on the Mexican border.
- World News
- 2 min read
Texas bases US District Court ruled out a permanent verdict against US President Donald Trump’s use of the $3.6 billion funds in the construction of the wall on the US -Mexico border. In a 21 page ruling, Judge David Briones prohibited the Trump government to transfer the funds to the military to build the Mexico wall.
Court ruled against transfer of funds
The ruling is a major setback for the Trump’s government as the plan was to construct a 450 miles wall that would differentiate US and Mexico before the November 2020 elections. The agenda was part of Trump’s election campaign. According to Trump, the wall was supposed to solve the problem of illegal immigration and border crossing which was one of the major concerns of Trump’s administration. One of the spokespersons of the US Justice Department said the Government will appeal against the verdict and seek for the transfer of funds.
The petition filed by El Paso County and the Border Network for Human Rights, which is an immigration reform group has argued that US President did not have the power to declare an emergency and the transfer of funds for the construction of the border. Trump had declared the emergency last February so that the funds can be displaced from the Pentagon to construct the wall. However, Congress did not support Trump’s decision and refused to contribute to the funding. Even the Democrats in Congress were critical of the initiative and found it ineffective and wasteful.
Kristy Parker who is the attorney representing El Paso said in a statement that the verdict has established that the US President is not the supreme power and that the judiciary is responsible to keep a check on him when he exceeds his limits. Briones said in his ruling that the proclamation was unlawful and the plaintiff required to file a proposed preliminary injunction. He further said that the transfer of the funds was also illegal and against the intent that was outlined by the Congress in their budget bill that was passed in January 2019.
Updated 12:46 IST, December 11th 2019
