Groups ask the judge to stop the construction of a border wall

Several groups filed on Thursday a motion asking a judge to impose a preliminary injunction to stop the construction of a wall by the Trump administration at the US-Mexico border as part of a President TrumpDonald John TrumpGroups asks the judge to suspend the construction of a border wall. Trump criticizes Barbara Bush: "Look what I did to her son" A man accused of throwing water balloons at Trump's crowd: "I did this that I had to do "National emergency declaration.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the petition in federal court in California as part of an ongoing lawsuit on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, challenging Trump's national emergency declaration.

The groups argue that the national emergency declaration is unconstitutional, as only Congress has the appropriate powers to allocate funds.

The groups claim in the filing that the construction of the wall with funds reserved for other purposes could cause "irreparable damage", which would have led to their request for a national injunction.

"Neither a declaration of urgency nor the statutes invoked by the defendants authorize the president to ignore the appropriations act passed by the Congress. The defendants have not even attempted to comply with Congress's requirements for environmental protection under the National Environmental Policy Act, "the lawsuit says.

"An injunction is needed to avoid contempt of the defendants for laws promulgated by a coordinated branch of government and their attempt to usurp its powers."

Trump in recent days has threatened to close the southern border.

But he pivoted his position Thursday, saying it would give Mexico a year to tackle problems such as drug trafficking before taking action such as closing the border or slapping it. from Mexico with car rates.

The ACLU's chief prosecutor in this case, Dror Ladin, told The Hill that he was concerned both about the constitutionality of the emergency declaration and the impact of the wall on his clients.

"It's certainly a matter of civil liberties when the president claims the power to do things unilaterally, like taking money that's not allowed by Congress or declaring a false urgency for seize additional power that the Constitution does not give to the president, "he said. I said.

He added that the group hopes that a judge will grant the injunction before the start of construction work on the wall.

SBCC is a group of 60 organizations working to improve the lives of those living on the southern border. The director of the organization said in a statement that a wall would hurt the area.

"The walls and hyper-militarization that President Trump continues to claim by threatening a Closing the border will only hurt the region and the nation as a whole, "said Vicki B. Gaubeca, SBCC director," The efforts that Trump is ready to make to support its plight. national emergency tear the bi-national and multicultural fabric of our region. "

A Sierra Club lawyer also said the wall could have a devastating impact on the environment.

"The Trump border wall would cause irreversible damage to desert ecosystems and sabotage wildlife protection efforts," said Sierra Club lawyer Gloria Smith.

"It's yet another illegal and dangerous effort by the president to advance his anti-immigrant and anti-environment agenda."

The Hill solicited comments from the White House, the Department of Defense and the Treasury Department.

The Department of Homeland Security referred The Hill to its Justice Department lawyers. A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Thursday's deposit is part of a trial filed in February to block the president 's border wall, arguing that his emergency statement used to misappropriate funds on the wall was unconstitutional.

"The president is using a false declaration of urgency that does not exist to undermine our constitutional system of checks and balances, which is seriously damaging to the communities living and working at the border," said Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the government. ACLU, in a statement. at the time.

"We are taking legal action to prevent the administration from continuing this blatantly illegal attempt to steal taxpayer money for a border wall that Congress, security experts and Americans have declared useless and prejudicial."

Trump in February declared the national emergency, after Congress refused to provide the amount of funding requested for the border wall, which resulted in the partial closure of the government for 35 days.

Trump had then stated that he "did not need to do that, but that I preferred to do it much faster", which his detractors have evoked as proof that the emergency declaration is illegitimate .

Attorney General William BarrWilliam Pelham BarrGroups asks the judge to stop the construction of a border wall Note to the Mueller team: If you do not charge, you can not incite the defense at night: the House vote to end US support for war in Yemen | Vote should force Trump's second veto to the presidency | More Russian troops could visit Venezuela | The first Space Force hearing is scheduled for next week MORE also stated at the time of the Trump Order that the statement is valid under federal law.

And Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen NielsenKirstjen Michele NielsenGroups ask the judge to suspend the construction of a border wall Mexico learns that if you give an inch to Trump, he will cross an extra kilometer and other officials claimed that there was currently a crisis at the border and that they lacked resources to deal with the influx of migrants who were trying to get into the country.