Courtney Bourgoin, courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org
WHAT:
The Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, will be in federal court in Oakland, California, on Wednesday, November 20, at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) to block imminent border wall construction using $3.6 billion in unauthorized military construction funds. Construction using the funds is expected to begin as soon as next Friday, November 22nd.
WHO:
Dror Ladin, staff attorney for the ACLU’s National Security Project, will appear before U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.
Attorneys with the U.S. House of Representatives will also present arguments as amici in support of the Sierra Club, SBCC and ACLU.
Attorneys on a separate lawsuit by the states of California and New Mexico against the border wall will also appear before the court.
WHEN:
Wednesday, November 20, 10:00 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
WHERE:
Oakland Courthouse
Courtroom 2, 4th Floor
1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612
The plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment can be found at this link.
Additional information about the case can be found on the ACLU website here.
Background:
The lawsuit, Sierra Club v. Trump, was brought by the ACLU on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition. The groups are challenging President Trump’s abuse of emergency powers to obtain border wall funds that Congress explicitly denied.
President Trump first identified the $3.6 billion in military construction funds in February 2019 when declaring a national emergency. However, for months his administration maintained that it had made no decisions about whether to spend any of the funds. The administration also had not chosen the military construction sites the funds would be taken from and how the funds would be used until months later in September 2019.
No court has yet issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from beginning wall construction using the unauthorized military construction funds.
This is the second request to block wall construction that the district court will be considering as part of the ACLU’s lawsuit. It previously blocked the administration from beginning construction using $2.5 billion in military pay and pension funds. The ACLU was in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last week to defend that 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.