Posted on 02/14/2019 8:29:36 PM PST by Blogger
President Trump will take dramatic actions to fund his long-promised border wall and declare a national emergency, which will enable his administration to move $8 billion from various federal agencies to fund the project, a senior administration official told Fox News late Thursday.
The news comes as Trump is expected to sign a House border security package that provides $1.4 billion for the project, which is far below the $5.7 billion Trump insisted he needed and would finance just a quarter of the 200-plus miles he wanted.
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said earlier today that Trump will sign the spending bill and declare a national emergency at the same time tomorrow morning.
The White House said he’d sign the legislation but act unilaterally to get more, prompting condemnations from Democrats and threats of lawsuits from states and others who might lose federal money or said Trump was abusing his authority.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They said they are going to keep doing what they’ve been doing.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trumps-border-security-victory/
President Donald J. Trump’s Border Security Victory
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
Issued on: February 15, 2019
ALL NEWS
QUOTE
I will never waver from my sacred duty to defend this Nation and its people. We will get the job done.
President Donald J. Trump
SECURING OUR BORDER: President Donald J. Trump is following through on his promise to secure the border with legislation and Executive action.
President Trump was elected partly on his promise to secure the Southern Border with a barrier and, since his first day in office, he has been following through on that promise.As the President has said, sections of the border wall are already being built, and legislation and Executive actions are building on that progress.Executive action being taken by the President makes available additional funding to secure our border that is essential to our national security.
LEGISLATIVE WINS: President Trump secured a number of significant legislative victories in the Homeland Security appropriations bill that further his effort to secure the Southern Border and protect our country.
The funding bill contains robust resources and additional provisions to secure the border and strengthen immigration enforcement.The bill provides $1.375 billion for approximately 55 miles of border barrier in highly dangerous and drug smuggling areas in the Rio Grande Valley, where it is desperately needed.More than 40 percent of all border apprehensions occurred in the Rio Grande Valley sector in fiscal year (FY) 2018.The Rio Grande Valley was the border sector with the most known deaths of illegal border crossers in FY 2018.$415 million will go toward addressing the humanitarian crisis at the border by providing medical care, transportation, processing centers, and consumables.President Trump successfully rejected efforts by some to undercut Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ability to uphold our laws and detain illegal aliens, including criminals.ICE funding supports nearly 5,000 additional beds to detain illegal aliens and keep criminals off our streets.Customs and Border Protection will receive funding for 600 additional officers.This bill will help keep deadly drugs out of our communities by increasing drug detection at ports of entry, including opioid detection staffing, labs, and equipment.
A PROMISE TO ACT: President Trump is taking Executive action to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at our Southern Border.
President Trump is using his legal authority to take Executive action to secure additional resources, just as he promised. In part, he is declaring a national emergency that makes available additional troops and funding for military construction.Including funding in Homeland Security appropriations, the Administration has so far identified up to $8.1 billion that will be available to build the border wall once a national emergency is declared and additional funds have been reprogrammed, including:About $601 million from the Treasury Forfeiture FundUp to $2.5 billion under the Department of Defense funds transferred for Support for Counterdrug Activities (Title 10 United States Code, section 284)Up to $3.6 billion reallocated from Department of Defense military construction projects under the President’s declaration of a national emergency (Title 10 United States Code, section 2808)These funding sources will be used sequentially and as needed.The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and the Army Corps of Engineers are working to create a prioritized list of segments and a work plan for the remainder of FY 2019 and beyond.New projects could include: new levee wall, new and replacement primary pedestrian barrier, new vehicle-to-pedestrian barrier, and new secondary barrier.
NATIONAL EMERGENCY ON OUR BORDER: The President is using his clear authority to declare a national emergency as allowed under the National Emergencies Act.
Since 1976, presidents have declared nearly 60 national emergencies.Most of the previously declared national emergencies have been continually renewed and are still in effect, after being continually renewed.Multiple Governors have declared states of emergency along the border in the past.Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who became President Obama’s DHS Secretary, declared a state of emergency along the border in 2005.Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also declared a state of emergency at the border in 2005.Former President George W. Bush and former President Obama both directed the use of the military to assist DHS in securing and managing the Southern Border.Former President Bush declared a national emergency in 2001, which invoked reprogramming authority granted by Title 10 United States Code, section 2808, and both he and former President Obama used that authority a total of 18 times to fund projects between 2001 and 2014.
ADDRESSING THE CRISIS AT HAND: President Trump is taking the necessary steps to address the crisis at our Southern Border and stop crime and drugs from flooding into our Nation.
Cartels, traffickers, and gangs, like the vile MS-13 gang, have taken advantage of our weak borders for their own gain.Immigration officers have made 266,000 arrests of criminal aliens in the last two fiscal years.This includes aliens charged or convicted of approximately 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 killings.Tons of deadly drugs have flooded across the border and into our communities, taking countless American lives.Methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl all flow across our Southern Border and destroy our communities.More than 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2017 alone.Human traffickers exploit our borders to traffic young girls and women into our country and sell them into prostitution and slavery.Massive caravans of migrants view our unsecure border as a way to gain illegal entry into our country and take advantage of our nonsensical immigration loopholes.
Rush is now admitting how bad this bill is, it restricts the President's ability to build any wall, it requires him to build recreation and health facilities provide transportation from detention to welcome centers. It is really, really bad. This bill was designed to tell Trump and his supporters, FU we are not doing anything Trump wants.
Money requires he send rescuers out to help illegals get across the border if they ask for help.
They had enough votes to override it.
From the bill:
“Prior to use of any funds made available by this Act for the construction of physical barriers within the city limits of any city or census designated place described in subsection (c), the Department of Homeland Security and the local elected officials of such a city or census designated place shall confer and seek to reach mutual agreement regarding the design and alignment of physical barriers within that city or the census designated place (as the case may be). Such consultations shall continue until September 30, 2019 (or until agreement is reached, if earlier) and may be extended beyond that date by agreement of the parties, and no funds made available in this Act shall be used for such construction while consultations are continuing.”
The local communities in the bill were cherry-picked to be Democrat strongholds and will never agree during the "conferring" period, and the President is forbidden to use the funds during the "conferring" period.
Trump is effectively banned from using the money in the bill.
-PJ
Not without a fight, so lets give them one. Or else I guess we could all support AOC or Hillary.
Maybe different to vote against the President in a Veto.
Folks think about it. What was Trump’s choice?
Both margins are veto busting margins.
It’s a waste of time to play hardball on this. It’s over and Trump has more important things to do.
Do I like it? I detest it. Rush said it was a dirty rotten bill, or something close to that. None of us like this cr_p.
The senate vote was: Yea 86 Nay 14 LINK
The House vote was: Yea 300 Nay 128 LINK
...
Excellently summarized; Rush is covering it now, 1pm EST or so...no one left with character and honor...all meant to rub dog poo in our faces. We have to build and keep building the wall to stop the stuff in the bill. PDJT is gonna also have to keep many troops on the border to keep the invaders out.
“PDJT is gonna also have to keep many troops on the border to keep the invaders out.”
Are they actually keeping anyone out? Didn’t most of the previous caravans end up in country anyways already?
And that was before this bill gutted interior enforcement.
Looking at the vote on this bill, does anyone doubt that there are enough senators to impeach the President? This was a demonstration of the uniparty.
Which:
1) He will expose to the public; and
2) He will do an end-run around with the declaration of emergency.
He can also completely disrupt life in those towns and counties by ordering military units to go there, set up road blocks, etc., etc.
Don’t think that Trump’s tool are limited, nor that he’s afraid to use them. This guy never gives up - you may, if you’re very bright or lucky, throw him for a loop...but he’ll keep coming back at you until you see it in your best interest to give up or compromise. The Dems really have never seen the likes of Trump before.
In the short term for sure.
See this article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3728054/posts
He has about $21 billion available to use from military funds.
So, now he has the funds, and those funds are not tied to the restrictions in the funding bill.
However, he's still stuck with the restrictions on deporting illegal sponsors of illegal children, he still stuck with border agent caps, he's still stuck with everything else in the spending bill.
-PJ
Again, I would have vetoed the bill, knowing what **I** know about it now. I’m pretty sure that he’s thought this through, with what’s best for the country and worst for the Dems in mind.
-PJ
As was astutely pointed out to me on another thread, these vote margins represent an impeachment majority in both the house and senate.
I don’t expect anything useful from trump henceforth. He’s worse than a lame duck now. He’s a defacto puppet of whoever has bought our congress.
A vote on a single bill, no matter how lopsided, doesn’t indicate anything about something as weighty as impeachment.
Trump is now (at least before today) at the peak of his popularity, with even the Leftist Media allowing for 52%. He will not be impeached.
I would only say, “stay tuned.” He’s not a quitter, and doesn’t want the dreaded “L” on his forehead in every meme from now until the Sun burns out.
“It’s pointless to veto.”
I beg to differ.
A veto would make a statement; proof positive that the President is wise to the charade and refuses to be a party to it.
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