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A federal appeals court has ruled the Trump administration can divert $3.6 billion in military funds to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Multiple reports indicate the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to temporarily stay a lower court ruling out of Texas. Reuters reports the stay is pending an appeal by the Trump administration of the ruling by a federal judge that prevented the transfer of funds. El Paso County, Texas, and the Border Network for Human Rights have been challenging the funds transfer. The panel noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had issued a stay in...

A federal appeals court in Louisiana on Wednesday ruled the government can use $3.6 billion in military funds to construct border barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a 2-1 ruling, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, granted the administration's request for the court to stay, or temporarily halt, a ruling made last month by a federal judge in El Paso that blocked officials from using the Pentagon funds to fulfill one of President Trump's main campaign pledges.

Donald Trump's dream of building a "big, beautiful wall" along the southern border took a hit yesterday when a federal judge ruled that Pentagon funds totaling $3.6 billion diverted for 11 construction projects along the southern border could not be used for wall construction. Significantly, the judge, David Briones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, ruled that other funds, already approved by the Supreme Court, could be spent. Those funds, which come from a Pentagon counter-narcotics fund, could still be used for wall construction. The argument being used by the city of El Paso was...

A federal judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump violated federal law when he used his declaration of a national emergency to get millions for building a wall on the southern border, NBC News reports. The ruling is a victory for El Paso County, Texas, and the Border Network for Human Rights, which sued to stop border construction in their community. They argued that Trump had no legal authority to spend more than what Congress appropriated for the wall project. In January the president asked for $5.7 billion to build "a steel barrier for the Southwest border," but Congress approved...

A federal judge in Texas declared on Friday that President Trump's proclamation of a national emergency on the southern border is unlawful, blocking the plan to divert funding for a border wall. Judge David Briones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas said in his opinion that the plan would be blocked after getting input from both sides in a lawsuit for the scope of an injunction. The lawsuit was brought by El Paso County in Texas and a group called the Border Network for Human Rights. Briones, who was appointed to the court by President...

A federal judge in El Paso, Texas, rules against the Trump administration on border wall funding, saying the national emergency declaration by Pres. Trump was unlawful.