Javier Sierra, javier.sierra@sierraclub.org, 703.927.4750
(English follows)
(English)
Appeals Court Rules Trump’s Border Wall Illegal, Blocks Further Construction
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last night ruled that President Trump’s use of emergency powers to divert $3.6 billion in military construction funds for the border wall is unlawful. The ruling came in a lawsuit, Sierra Club v. Trump, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition challenging President Trump’s abuse of emergency powers to build a border wall using funds Congress explicitly denied. Although the district court previously stayed its own injunction blocking these sections of wall, the court of appeals order lifts that stay and requires that construction cease immediately.
“Today’s decision is monumental for border communities, wildlife and lands. The 9th Circuit court put a stop to Trump’s unconstitutional wall construction with stolen military funds. We should be protecting communities, our democracy, and the environment, not tearing these things apart as Trump was doing,” said Gloria Smith, Managing Attorney at the Sierra Club. “We rise with border communities to stop this administration from further inflicting its relentless agenda-- and will continue fighting illegal wall construction at all levels.”
“The courts have once again confirmed what everyone knows: Trump’s fake ‘national emergency’ was just another pretext for targeting immigrants and border communities,” said Dror Ladin, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “It’s past time for Trump to finally give up on trying to raid the federal budget for his wasteful and illegal project.”
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Sobre el Sierra Club
El Sierra Club es la mayor y más influyente organización medioambiental de base en Estados Unidos y cuenta con cerca de 4 millones de miembros y seguidores en todo el país. Además de crear oportunidades para que personas de todas las edades, niveles y localizaciones puedan disfrutar de la naturaleza, el Sierra Club se esfuerza en salvaguardar la salud de las comunidades, proteger la vida silvestre, y preservar los restantes parajes naturales por medio de activismo de base, educación pública, cabildeo y en las cortes. Para más información visite: www.sierraclub.org/ecocentro.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with close to 4 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.