California sues Trump administration against construction of border wall

Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-21 03:56:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- California's Attorney General Xavier Becerra Wednesday announced a lawsuit against Trump administration's plan to build a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.

Becerra unfolded the suit in San Diego, a southern Californian city located on the border between the two countries. The lawsuit aims to stop design, planning and construction on the wall, and is particularly focused on halting the construction of wall prototypes in San Diego and the replacement of barriers there and in Calexico, California.

According to the 53-page indictment acquired by Xinhua, the defendants of the cases included United States of America, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), former DHS Secretary John Kelly, Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan.

They are charged of violating the U.S. Constitution, failing to comply with federal and state environmental laws, and relying on a federal statute that does not authorize the proposed projects.

In the lawsuit filed in the District Court for the Southern District of California, Becerra recalled the history of construction from Jone Kelly's move to expedite the projects before 2009 to DHS's announcement that it intended to carry out a border wall project in Imperial County last week.

He claimed both DHS's former Secretary Kelly and Acting Secretary Duke proposed unlawfully expediting the construction of this project, arguing that the Secretary's authority to waive laws under Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) expired in 2008, which allows the DHS to install additional physical barriers and roads in certain areas to deter illegal crossings.

Since DHS did not identify the San Diego or Imperial project areas as "priority areas" before this deadline, the indictment said, so improper application of Section 102 violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including the Separation of Powers doctrine and the 10th Amendment.

Moreover, the indictment emphasized U.S. President Donald Trump should take responsibility for the illegal construction projects.

"As a presidential candidate, and subsequently as President, President Trump repeatedly has stated his intent to build a wall across the entire United States border with Mexico," the document read.

It also said that on Jan. 25 this year Trump issued Executive Order No. 13767 directing the DHS to "allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing and construction of a physical wall along the southern border."

"The Trump Administration has once again ignored laws it doesn't like in order to resuscitate a campaign talking point to build a wall on our southern border," said Becerra Wednesday in his speech at Border Field State Park of San Diego.

Becerra also posted this lawsuit news on his official twitter page later, saying "No one gets to ignore the Law. Not even the President of the U.S."

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