Trump Can Use Military Funds For Border Wall: US Supreme Court

Washington: The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump to use $2.5 billion from the Defence Department funding to construct a wall on the southern border with Mexico that the government calls necessary to protect national security.

The justices on Friday voted 5-4 to overturn a decision by a lower court in California that barred the Trump administration from employing the money for a purpose other than that designated by Congress. The wall, dividing the US and Mexico, was Trump’s major campaign promise during the 2016 presidential election. It is fiercely opposed by Democrats.

In a tweet, Trump described the ruling as a “big victory”. He has argued that a new wall would help to curb illegal immigration, which he says is fuelling crime and placing a strain on the economy. Democrats, however, say that Trump has “manufactured the border emergency” and that the wall has become a symbol of his anti-immigration platform.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the administration on behalf of the environmental group Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which represents organisations from San Diego to southeastern Texas. Environmental groups say building the wall can have a negative impact on wildlife. About 20 states also filed lawsuits to stop the President from using the emergency declaration to bypass Congress, the US media reported. The federal district court in California sided with the plaintiffs, finding that the public interest was “best served by respecting the Constitution’s assignment of the power of the purse to Congress, and by deferring to Congress’ understanding of the public interest. (IANS)

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