Trump Wall Construction to Start July 1 If Judge Hasn't Ruled
Trump Wall Construction to Start July 1 If Judge Hasn't Ruled
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration said it will begin construction of the president’s promised Mexico border wall as soon as Monday -- unless a federal judge intervenes.
The U.S. Justice Department notified the judge Friday that the Department of Homeland Security intends to move ahead with four projects in California and Arizona “as early as the morning of July 1.”
Foes of the wall projects including the Sierra Club and a 20-state coalition have asked U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California, to block the four projects after he previously barred the administration from commencing work on two others, in New Mexico and Arizona.
Trump has been fighting for money to pay for a border wall since taking office, mostly unsuccessfully, and resorted this year to shuffling funds within the federal budget to start new construction along the U.S. southern border. Opponents argue that he doesn’t have the authority to bypass Congress even though he declared an emergency at the border in February.
In addition to temporarily blocking the two construction projects, Gilliam ordered the administration to inform him of any further funding reallocations before the Army Corps of Engineers or private contractors can begin work elsewhere along the border.
Lawyers for the Sierra Club told the judge Friday they may file an emergency request if he hasn’t ruled before Monday on whether to block the four additional projects.
The case is Sierra Club v. Trump, 19-cv-00892, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).
To contact the reporter on this story: Kartikay Mehrotra in San Francisco at kmehrotra2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Joe Schneider
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