Sixteen US states have formed a coalition to ask a federal court to block Donald Trump from proceeding with the national emergency that the president declared on Friday in an effort to secure funds for his US-Mexico border wall.
The states, which include California, New York, Maryland and Virginia, filed a lawsuit on Monday arguing that the declaration of a national emergency for the purpose of building a wall was unconstitutional. They argue the president does not have the power to divert funds, as the Congress controls spending.
The sixteen attorneys-general said Mr Trump had acted against the will of Congress and “used the pretext of a manufactured ‘crisis’ of unlawful immigration” to secure funds that were intended for military construction, seizing narcotics and law enforcement measures.
Mr Trump declared the emergency on Friday after Congress reached a bipartisan budget deal that provided only $1.37bn for the border wall that Mr Trump had vowed to build during his 2016 presidential campaign. The deal was struck in order to avoid a second partial government shutdown this year.
Democrats refused to provide additional funding because they believe that the wall is a political gimmick and because they want to deny Mr Trump a political victory as the 2020 presidential race moves into a higher gear.
In the lawsuit — which was filed in a San Francisco court that has blocked other Trump administration initiatives — the states said there was “no objective basis” for the emergency, citing figures from the Customs and Border Protection agency which show unlawful border crossings hovering at a 45-year low.
Following his announcement on Friday, Mr Trump repeated his claim that the situation on the border was dire as illegal immigrants pour in and commit crimes, and that terrorists were also entering the US. But he was unable to explain to reporters why his claims were not backed up by government data.
“The state department recognises there is a lack of credible evidence that terrorists are using the southern border to enter the US. Federal data confirm that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than are native-born Americans,” the 16 states wrote in their lawsuit.
Republicans had also warned Mr Trump not to declare an emergency because it would be challenged in court. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, called the move “a power grab by a disappointed president who has gone outside the bounds of the law”.
The Democrats, who hold a majority in the House, are gearing up to pass a resolution opposing the emergency. If they secure enough support in the Republican-held Senate, it would set the stage for Mr Trump to veto the resolution — unless it passes with a veto-proof two-thirds majority.
Mr Trump announced the emergency to unlock $3.6bn in funds allocated to the Pentagon construction budget. Over the weekend, however, Patrick Shanahan, acting secretary of defence, told reporters at the Munich Security Conference that he had not spoken to the president about the emergency
