"The Sierra Club faced off with government lawyers in court this week to fight the U.S.-Mexico border wall backed by President Donald Trump, the latest in a lineup of lawsuits over the issue.
Lawyers for the environmental group, as well as for the Southern Border Communities Coalition and some states, appeared at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Nov. 12 to argue against President Donald Trump’s emergency order authorizing creative funding for border protections.
The president issued the order in February to move money from Defense Department accounts and other sources to fund construction, after Congress declined to authorize $5.7 billion for the project.
Environmentalists are concerned about the impacts to border communities and public lands, including national wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other Southwestern sites. Justice Department lawyers maintain the president has broad authority to combat the flow of illegal drugs across the border, and they say the case involves a political question that’s best left to the political branches of government, not to the courts."
Ellen M. Gilmer reports for Bloomberg Environment November 13, 2019.
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