House Democrats’ lawsuit over the Trump administration’s reallocation of government funds to help pay for a U.S.-Mexico border wall has been revived by a federal appeals court in Washington.
The suit accused President Donald Trump of violating the constitution by proceeding with his wall without congressional approval and by using funds that Congress had appropriated for other purposes. A three-judge panel of the appeals court on Friday scrapped a lower-court decision that said the House didn’t have legal standing to challenge the transfer of funds.
“The Executive Branch has, in a word, snatched the House’s key out of its hands,” Judge David Sentelle wrote in a 24-page ruling. “The ironclad constitutional rule is that the Executive Branch cannot spend until both the House and the Senate say so.”
That whining noise you hear is Trump…acting like the spoiled rich boy he has always been. Stamp his little feet. Wave his little hands. Pee his pants over denial and frustration.
“As Indigenous Protesters Take On Border Wall Construction, National Park Service Closes Road To Sacred Spring” https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1623254/indigenous-protesters-take-border-wall-construction-national-park-service-closes
“NPS closes route to Quitobaquito Springs : Closure comes a day after O’odham leaders held a cross-border ceremony at the spring.” https://news.azpm.org/p/news-articles/2020/9/29/180978-nps-closes-route-to-quitobaquito-springs/
Thirty-foot steel bollard panels are being erected across 30 miles of Organ Pipe. Sunday’s ceremony had O’odham from both sides off the border meet at an opening in the construction line that’s quickly disappearing.
Seeing the changes on Sunday, Verlon Jose, former vice chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation, said it’s impossible for outsiders to understand what this means to O’odham.
“Let me get an iron blade and drag it across your heart, and maybe then you will understand what we feel and what we see here today,” he said.
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“Work on half-finished sections of Trump’s Mexico wall is futile and in some places has made border security worse, campaigners say” https://www.businessinsider.com/last-stages-trumps-border-wall-help-people-sneak-into-us-2021-1 In order to reach the border, contractors have blasted roads into terrain that was once rugged and impassable.
Some areas still have no barrier, with work likely to stop when Trump leaves office. But the roads will remain.
Meanwhile: Donald Trump will visit Alamo, Texas, today to celebrate the completion of 450 miles of his border wall https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/trump-border-wall-capitol-hill/index.html
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🔺 “President Trump can’t use $3.6 billion in military funds for border wall construction, federal court rules : The 2-1 decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes as $3.6 billion was slated for construction of about a dozen projects, including two projects in the Laredo and El Paso areas.” (10/10/20) https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/10/texas-border-wall-lawsuit/
🔺 “A federal appeals court ruled against Trump, but the opinion had no immediate impact because of a Supreme Court order, 5-4, from last year that allowed construction to continue while the legal challenges played out.” Supreme Court to hear challenges to Trump border wall funding and asylum policies (10/19/20) https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/19/politics/supreme-court-immigration-border-wall-asylum/index.html The dispute over the border wall concerns a challenge to the use of $2.5 billion from the Pentagon to construct parts of the wall along the southwestern border — stretching across three states, including protected public land
🔺 White House press release Oct 30, 2020: “Nearly 400 miles of new border wall system is now complete. Just as important, the Trump Administration is prosecuting and deporting violent criminals, stopping the flow of illegal drugs, and closing the loopholes that help human smugglers while hurting our own citizens, including legal immigrants. …“The progress we are celebrating here did not happen by accident. The many miles of border wall system exists because of the will and vision of President Trump, and the dedication and hard work of the men and women of DHS, the Army Corps of Engineers and our colleagues from across the Administration,” Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said.” https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/new-border-wall-nears-400-miles/
🔺 ‘An incredible scar’: the harsh toll of Trump’s 400-mile wall through national parks (10/31/20) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/31/trump-border-wall-wilderness-wildlife-impact
🔺 “A Monument to Stupidity : The Trauma of Trump’s Border Wall” https://theintercept.com/2020/10/31/trump-border-wall-legacy/
🔺 Texas landowners facing coronavirus pandemic and land seizures for border wall (10/29/20) https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/29/politics/border-wall-texas-pandemic/index.html
“Stopping border wall construction could save $2.6 billion, Pentagon says” https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/stopping-border-wall-construction-could-save-2-6-billion-pentagon-says/
“Construction crews along the border have been working round-the-clock in multiple locations to build the barriers as fast as possible before Biden takes office, anticipating that the project’s days are numbered. Environmental and conservation groups who oppose the project have expressed outrage that crews continue to bulldoze and demolish sensitive desert and mountain regions, altering the landscape as they clear a path for barriers they will not have time to install.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters this week that Biden’s pledge to stop work would be a “waste of taxpayer money” adding up to “billions.”
“Defense Department slams brakes on border wall as it reviews Biden order” https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/border-wall-joe-biden-defense-department/index.html
“It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall,” Biden’s proclamation reads.
The government has a long-standing authority to terminate contracts, though such actions can come with their own challenges and at a cost, according to contracting experts. There are costs incurred before construction starts, such as planning costs, land acquisitions and manufacturing expenses and pre-positioning equipment. If contracts are terminated, there may also be the need to pay costs associated with cleanup, demobilization and potentially restoration of land for safety and environmental reasons. The costs will ultimately depend on the size of the contract and how much of the project has been completed so far.
“Half-built walls and ruined mountains: Pictures and video show the remains of Trump’s incomplete border wall” https://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-trumps-half-built-border-wall-and-ruined-landscape-2021-2
8AM MST, tomorrow morning, 13th
“New Mexico congresswoman plans fight for funds to complete border wall” https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/the-border-wall/new-mexico-congresswoman-plans-fight-for-funds-to-complete-border-wall/ “New Mexico Republican Yvette Herrell warns that cancelling contracts will encourage drug cartels to send more drugs, give migrants open border”
[Herrell, who was elected in November to represent New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, was one of the House Republicans who voted on Jan. 6 to oppose the certification of the Electoral College votes]
Meanwhile: “Drug-smuggling drones soaring over border into residential neighborhoods, agents say” https://www.borderreport.com/hot-topics/border-crime/drug-smuggling-drones-soaring-over-border-into-residential-neighborhoods-agents-say/ (includes video)
Residents say that since October, they’ve been seeing more and more drones flying over their homes in Coral Gates, a small community in San Ysidro, Calif., just north of the international border with Mexico.
Its distance from the city of Tijuana can easily be covered by a drone, especially at night.
“I see them all the time,” said a woman named Yesenia. “I also see people in cars that just sit there for hours, it looks strange.”