“There is no emergency. This is an unconstitutional power grab that hurts American communities. We’ll see him in court.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said it was filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump following his declaration of a national emergency on Feb. 15.
Trump said that the situation at the border has devolved into a crisis that is best solved by declaring a national emergency, freeing him up to gather funds to build a border wall from a range of sources.
Negotiations over the past few months left Trump with only $1.3 billion for the wall in the appropriations he signed on Friday, a figure he called unacceptable.
The ACLU said via Twitter that Trump’s declaration was “blatantly illegal.”
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The group added: “There is no emergency. This is an unconstitutional power grab that hurts American communities. We’ll see him in court.”
Cecillia Wang, the group’s deputy legal director, argued that the number of border crossings is down from previous years and that Trump has been denying people who are trying to legally seek asylum.
Wang left out that thousands of suspected terrorists try to enter the United States every year, that human trafficking and sexual assault are a key aspect of the crisis on the southern border, and that most asylum seekers are initially approved but ultimately are found not to qualify for asylum.
According to Harvard professor John Yoo, Trump has the power to declare an emergency at the border, especially because Congress in 2006 passed a law approved by Democrats and Republicans authorizing the construction of a wall.
