Attorney General Becerra Applauds Ruling Blocking Trump’s Illegal Diversion of Funding for Border Wall

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement in response to a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to find unlawful and permanently block President Trump’s attempt to divert $2.5 billion in funding to begin building a border wall in El Centro, California and New Mexico. The decision grants in part California’s and New Mexico’s motion for partial summary judgment filed on June 12, 2019 and enters a partial judgment in favor of California and New Mexico. In a related proceeding, Sierra Club, et al. v. Donald Trump, et al., the District Court also granted in part Sierra Club’s motion for partial summary judgment and permanently enjoined the Trump Administration from proceeding with construction.

“These rulings critically stop President Trump’s illegal money grab to divert $2.5 billion of unauthorized funding for his pet project,” said Attorney General Becerra. “All President Trump has succeeded in building is a constitutional crisis, threatening immediate harm to our state. President Trump said he didn’t have to do this and that he would be unsuccessful in court. Today we proved that statement true.” 

On President’s Day 2019, Attorney General Becerra led 16 states in a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency and his attempt to divert funding appropriated by Congress for other purposes. In the complaint, the coalition alleges that the Trump Administration’s emergency declaration and diversion of funds is unconstitutional and otherwise unlawful. Less than a month later, four additional states joined the lawsuit, bringing the coalition to twenty attorneys general. In March, Congress, having already rejected President Trump’s pet project, passed a joint resolution overturning the National Emergency, which President Trump subsequently vetoed. Today’s ruling follows a preliminary injunction issued on May 24, which temporarily blocked President Trump’s ability to divert $1 billion in funding toward border walls in New Mexico and Arizona.

The order for California can be found here and the order for the Sierra Club can be found here.