On Wednesday, a U.S federal appeals court put on hold a lower court ruling that blocked Donald Trump’s administration from using $3.6bn in military construction funds to construct a wall on the U.S-Mexico border. The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay pending the Trump administration’s appeal of a decision made on 10 December 2019 by a federal judge to seize the funding transfer. The panel pointed out in a 2-1 ruling that the U.S Supreme Court had stayed an injunction in a similar border wall case from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The court also said there was a substantial likelihood that the parties challenging the funding transfer.
It is noteworthy that 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 $10bn that Trump has obtained for border wall construction during his presidency. It is a total that comes from congressional appropriations and redirected Defense Department and Treasury Department funds. Trump contends the wall will stem from illegal crossings and narcotics trafficking. Congressional Democrats have characterized the president’s signature project as divisive and a waste of resources. Congress has approved funding for building a border wall in recent years, but at levels below requested by the Trump administration.
Point to be noted that Trump declared illegal immigration to be a national emergency in February 2019. It was a part of a plan to access billions of dollars in Pentagon and Treasury funds to construct a border wall along the U.S-Mexico border. Trump administration officials have promised to construct 450 miles of new and replacement barriers along the border by November 2020. There is a number of obstacles, including legal challenges and resistance from private landowners. The acting commissioner of the U.S Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan said in December, Trump administration may fall short of the 450-mile mark. The Trump administration has erected 96 miles of a border wall since the president took office in January 2017.