Widgetized Section

Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone

Colorado joins 16 states suing Trump administration over border wall ‘national emergency’

By
February 18, 2019, 6:13 pm
border wall Tijuana
A small fence separates densely populated Tijuana, Mexico, right, from the United States in the Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. Wiki Commons photo.

Colorado has signed onto a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s declaration of a national emergency to obtain funding for a border wall with Mexico.

“Colorado will join at least 10 other states in a multistate lawsuit challenging President [Donald] Trump’s unconstitutional emergency declaration to build a border wall. After reviewing the specifics of this action over the weekend, we concluded that Colorado could lose tens of millions in military construction dollars that would be diverted to build the wall,” the joint statement from Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser reads.

“Our military bases play a critical role in our nation’s readiness and are economic drivers in several communities,” the statement continues. “In this action, we are fighting for Colorado’s interests and defending the rule of law.”

California is leading the legal charge and is joined by 15 other Democrat-controlled states, including New York, New Mexico, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Oregon, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia and New Jersey.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, according to the New York Times, pointed to Trump’s announcement of the national emergency on Friday: “Probably the best evidence is the president’s own words,” Becerra said.

“I didn’t need to this, but I’d rather do it much faster.” Trump said on Friday.

Colorado officials roundly condemned the move over the weekend.

Trump declared the emergency to tap into billions of dollars Congress declined to give him for his long-promised southwestern border wall that he’s always said Mexico will pay for.

It’s debatable whether illegal immigration – used extensively at Trump’s resort properties – is in fact an emergency given that Republicans controlling all of Congress the last two years failed to fully fund the wall.

Read the lawsuit here.