Why Trump will win the wall fight

[Right_in_Virginia]

Why Trump will win the wall fight
The Hill, Feb 16, 2019, Jonathan Turley

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “If my fellow citizens want to go to hell, I will help them. It is my job.” What he was expressing is the limited role of courts in challenges to federal law. It is not their task as judges to sit as a super legislature to question the priorities or policies of the political branches. They will gladly send Congress to hell. It only needs to be clear about the destination.

In the matter of the border wall, Congress could not have been more clear where it was heading. It has long put itself on the path to institutional irrelevancy, and it has finally arrived. While I do not agree that there is a national emergency on the southern border, I do believe President Trump  will prevail. This crisis is not the making of Donald Trump. It is the making of Congress.

For decades, Congress frittered away control over its inherent powers, including the power of the purse. I have testified repeatedly before Congress, warning about the expansion of executive power and the failure of Congress to guard its own authority. The two primary objections have been Congress giving presidents largely unchecked authority and undedicated money. The wall controversy today is a grotesque result of both failures.


More:  https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/430335-why-trump-will-win-the-wall-fight

[Right_in_Virginia]

FTA

Conversely, Trump is using appropriated funds. Like the authority under the National Emergencies Act, Congress gave this money to the executive branch without meaningful limits. Trump now has more than $1.3 billion in newly approved funds for border protection. He has identified about $8 billion in loosely dedicated funds for military construction, drug interdiction and forfeitures. Even if a court disagreed with the use of some of this money, Trump has the authority and funds to start major construction of the wall.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Dan Scavino Jr. ‏Verified account @Scavino45
9h9 hours ago

After declaring a national emergency, President @realDonaldTrump is briefed by U.S. Army Chief of Engineers, Commanding General Ltg. Todd T. Semonite on the status to date of the border wall - and all future construction, to begin along the southern border...

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Of Course he'll win it @Right_in_Virginia.

Look at the mess China's in.

Don't see That brought up here every day, except for one or two members with a huge bag of rotten grapes to haul around.

And what's it get them?

Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.

[Elderberry]

Wall building sure is slow going.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_barrier

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of fencing along the Mexican border. The 1,954 miles (3,145 km) border between the United States and Mexico traverses a variety of terrains, including urban areas and deserts.[8] The barrier is located on both urban and uninhabited sections of the border, areas where the most concentrated numbers of illegal crossings and drug trafficking have been observed in the past. These urban areas include San Diego, California and El Paso, Texas.

By May 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported completing 649 miles (1,044 km) of fencing (99.5% of the 652 miles planned). The barrier was made up of 299 miles (481 km) of vehicle barriers and 350 miles (560 km) of pedestrian fence.[9] The fencing includes a steel fence (varying in height between 18 and 26 feet) that divides the border towns of Nogales, Arizona in the U.S. and Nogales, Sonora in Mexico.[10] A 2016 report by the Government Accountability Office confirmed that the government had completed the fence by 2015.[11] A 2017 GAO report noted: "In addition to the 654 miles of primary fencing, CBP has also deployed additional layers of pedestrian fencing behind the primary border fencing, including 37 miles of secondary fencing and 14 miles of tertiary fencing."[12]

Now, as I understand it, Trump wants to build 500-550 more miles of wall/fence and have it completed by Nov. 2020.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4793962/donald-trump-border-wall-550-miles/

Speaking to reporters on Christmas morning, Trump said the federal government yesterday handed out a contract to build 115 miles (about 185 kilometres) of wall, which represents about a fifth of the total 500 to 550 miles (805 to 885 kilometres) he expects to see constructed along the U.S.-Mexico border.

He hopes to have all 550 miles built by November 2020, when the next U.S. election rolls around.

“It’s a 2,000-mile border, but much of it has mountains and region where you can’t get across so we’re looking at between 500 and 550,” Trump said.

I have no doubt he will accomplish some wall building. I just have no idea of how much will be accomplished.