Courtney Bourgoin, courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org and Lauren Lantry lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
San Francisco, CA-- Today in federal court, ACLU attorney Dror Ladin will represent the Sierra Club, ACLU and SBCC in arguments against the Trump Administration’s appeal of a preliminary injunction granted in a lawsuit against the president’s national emergency declaration. The plaintiff groups won a preliminary injunction to block the Trump administration from using military funds to build 50-55 miles of new border wall in Arizona and New Mexico. Watch the live stream of today’s arguments here.
Ahead of the hearing, Dan Millis, Borderlands Program Manager at the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, released the following statement:
“The catastrophe of Trump’s national emergency declaration goes beyond the ideological; the harm of illegally transferring billions of dollars from the military to fund more border walls will be concrete and devastating. Border communities vehemently reject this administration's militarization of our towns, destruction of our environment and the mounting humanitarian crisis Trump has caused. We are hopeful the court will decide on the side of the borderlands and border communities today, while shutting down Trump’s abuse of power and destruction of our home.”
Background:
After being denied his requested $5.7 billion in border wall funding and prompting the longest government shutdown in history, President Trump declared a state of emergency to raid billions of dollars from the Department of Defense to build a border wall.
The groups filed for the injunction when the administration announced that it intended to transfer over a billion dollars in military funds to construct over 213 miles of new border wall in New Mexico and Arizona, for which Congress denied the Administration.The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal following the preliminary injunction victory.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.