Federal judge declares Trump border proclamation unlawful

[mystery-ak]

Federal judge declares Trump border proclamation unlawful
By Harper Neidig - 10/11/19 03:10 PM EDT

A federal judge in Texas declared on Friday that President Trump's proclamation of a national emergency on the southern border is unlawful, blocking the plan to divert funding for a border wall.
 
Judge David Briones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas said in his opinion that the plan would be blocked after getting input from both sides in a lawsuit for the scope of an injunction.
 

The lawsuit was brought by El Paso County in Texas and a group called the Border Network for Human Rights.
 
Briones, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton, ruled that Trump overstepped his authority to divert more funds to border security than what was appropriated by Congress.
 
He also ruled that El Paso has standing to sue the president and members of his Cabinet because the county "suffered reputational and economic injuries" as a result of the administration's rhetoric on the situation at the border and the construction plans that the proclamation entailed.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/465449-federal-judge-declares-trump-border-proclamation-unlawful

[IsailedawayfromFR]

As Commander in Chief, he needs no congressional authority for funds to protect this country, which he swore to do when inaugurated.

And he certainly does not need the blessing of an unelected judge either.

[Wingnut]

The Judge will be over ruled.

[Mesaclone]

That ruling will not effect construction. There's some nice, big new chunks going up right here in Arizona...the structure is impressive and strong, and BP officers can see through the slats which is critical. Good luck going over it and the steel goes ten feet underground as well. No physical structure is impassable but this thing is one helluva obstacle...unlike the Texas judge's ruling.

[rangerrebew]

Texas Judge Blocks Border Barrier Funding
An interesting take on standing, to say the least
 
By Andrew R. Arthur on October 16, 2019

Senior Judge David Briones of the of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, issued a Memorandum Opinion last week in which he found that a "Presidential Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States" violated the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act (2019 CAA). Having made this finding, he directed the plaintiffs (described below) to file a proposed preliminary injunction to address that violation. The section of that order in which he found that the plaintiffs have standing is interesting, to say the least.

I will first note that the link above to that decision is from Law360, which is behind a paywall. The Western District of Texas has a page for "Notable Cases", which states that "No cases are currently posted." They should not be so modest.

The plaintiffs in the case are El Paso County, Texas, and Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR). You may have thought the issue was settled when the Supreme Court in July granted the government's request for a stay of an injunction in Trump v. Sierra Club. That case involved the same proclamation, which authorized the use of funds by the Department of Defense (DOD) to erect border barriers to staunch the flow of drugs into the United States. Where there is a district court judge, however, there is a way to stymie the Trump administration's immigration initiatives.

https://cis.org/Arthur/Texas-Judge-Blocks-Border-Barrier-Funding