A federal court on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from diverting $1.4 billion in funds appropriated by Congress to build a border wall. This is one of many legal battles between Texas and the federal government.
judgment This stems from President Joe Biden’s January 2021 proclamation that ended the Trump-era national emergency at the southern border and ordered a moratorium on border wall construction. Funds required for border wall funding in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 have been paused while the agency considers the issue.
“It is the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayers will be diverted to construction of a border wall, and I will ensure that all resources appropriated or directed toward construction of a wall on the southern border are prudent,” Biden said. We are instructing them to consider this.”
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President Joe Biden walks along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, on January 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
In June of that year, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to cancel most border wall projects and expand the same plan in 2022 to include repairs and adding barrier system upgrades such as lighting, cameras, and detectors. We plan to fix it.
Missouri and Texas argue that the diversion of funds is illegal and violates the separation of powers, and that it will harm and cost each state more money by increasing illegal immigration into their states. filed a lawsuit alleging that. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush also filed suit, and the two cases were eventually consolidated.
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The Department of Homeland Security maintains that Texas has not proven that unless more walls are built there will be more illegal immigration, and that increases in immigration can be caused by social, economic and political factors. He claimed that there was.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee who ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a separate case, ruled in favor of Texas and Missouri and issued a temporary restraining order on the transfer of the funds. did.
“The state of Texas has shown that it is inflicting real harm through the costs of administering driver’s licenses, education, and health care to a growing number of illegal aliens,” he wrote in his ruling. “Traceability is met because Texas has well demonstrated that not building more physical barriers reduces the number of insecurities that would have occurred. And finally, this dispute is remediable because a favorable judicial decision would likely reduce the economic harm that Texas would otherwise suffer. ”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that Biden had acted inappropriately “by refusing to disburse and even attempting to redirect funds appropriated by Congress to build a border wall.” denounced.
“His actions demonstrate his desperation to open the border at all costs, but Texas won,” he said. Fox has reached out to DHS and the White House for comment.
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Although the administration has consistently said it opposes building a border wall, it is working on a number of wall-related projects. In October, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas granted a regulatory waiver to allow projects earmarked for fiscal year 2019 funds to proceed.
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“We have repeatedly asked Congress to cancel this funding, but with no response, we have no choice but to follow the law,” Mayorkas said.
“This administration believes that effective border security requires a smarter, more comprehensive approach that includes cutting-edge border surveillance technology and modernized ports of entry. We need Congress to give us the funding to put these tools in place.”
