02/14/2019 Tungol Law America Now, Headline News, Immigration, Politics "Breaking News: Trump Declares State of Emergency Over Border Wall Funds"
According to a recent report by By Anita Kumar and Caitlin Oprysko of Politico, President Donald Trump declared today a state of emergency on the southern border and immediately directed $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier.
From the White House’s Rose Garden Friday, Trump said he had to make the move because there was “an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, all types of criminals and gangs.”
And he lambasted congressional leaders for failing to get him the money he wanted, taking a thinly veiled shot at recently retired House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying people in Congress “should have stepped up.”
Senior Democrats have responded by accusing him of committing a “gross abuse of power” and a “lawless act”.
Congress must first pass the bill before it is signed by the president.
Reaction to Trump’s decision to declare national emergency
Building the wall was a key election promise but Mr Trump has so far been unable to get the necessary funding.
What did the White House say?
“The president is once again delivering on his promise to build the wall, protect the border, and secure our great country,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
She added he would “take other executive action – including a national emergency – to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border”
The compromise legislation includes $1.3bn (£1bn) in funding for border security, including physical barriers, but it does not allot money towards Mr Trump’s wall. Mr Trump had wanted $5.7bn for the wall.
Can Trump use emergency powers to build wall?
Is there a crisis on the US-Mexico border?
When Mr Trump warned that he might declare a national emergency over his wall earlier this year, some Republicans argued it would set a dangerous precedent.
Speaking on the Senate floor on Thursday, however, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated his support for the move, saying the president was taking action with “whatever tools he can legally use to enhance his efforts to secure the border”.
In a 83-16 vote, the Senate on Thursday passed the border security bill, which is now due to go to the House of Representatives.
For more on this story, go to BBC News and Politico.
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