In a massive loss for President Joe Biden and his far-left administration, a judge has ruled that funding allocated by Congress for the construction of the border wall must not be diverted to other projects.
The funding has to go towards construction.
You will remember that Biden stopped all construction on walls on his first day in office.
UPI reports, that in a “case filed by Texas, Missouri, and other co-plaintiffs,” U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton “ruled the Biden administration ignored the intent of Congress allocating $1.4 billion in border wall construction by diverting the funds for other purposes.”
Tipton approved the state’s request to stop DHS officials from misappropriating the funds and instead use them for their intended purpose of building a border wall at the southern border.
Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush and the states of Texas and Missouri in separate federal court filings challenged the legality of the Biden administration’s policy while also seeking an injunction to stop the parole policy.
The lawsuits say Congress in 2020 and 2021 approved $1.4 billion in funding to complete a border wall between the United States and Mexico, but Biden “had a different view on how these funds should be spent” and “via proclamation, paused obligation of these funds they day he was inaugurated,” the states said in the consolidated federal lawsuit.
Then, Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to evaluate the issue, leading to the development of two alternative strategies that did not include the construction of the border wall. So, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would focus solely on ensuring the stability of any pre-existing border infrastructure.
UPI continued, “Instead of continuing work to build a barrier system at the southern border, the Biden administration allocated the funds for “environmental remediation, flood control, and cleanup projects” and “smarter border security measures” that are inconsistent with the intended purpose of the $1.4 billion allocation and “constitute misappropriation of the funds,” the states argued.
“Tipton agreed with the states and granted their motion to allocate the federal funding for building a border wall,” the outlet added.
Tipton said Texas demonstrated that building additional physical barriers “would result in fewer illegal aliens entering the country,” which DHS data affirms. DHS data show an 87% decline in illegal crossings in the Yuma sector during the 2020 fiscal year compared to a year prior and a 79% decrease in apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley sector.
According to the DHS, “El Paso sector has experienced a significant reduction in drug and smuggling activities in areas where the new border wall system was built.”
Tipton reported that there has been a decrease of 61% and 81% in unlawful crossings in two important areas in the El Paso sector.
“These DHS findings and reports show that walls, and the addition of walls, lower the volume of illegal immigration,” Tipton declared in his ruling. “The court finds that in the absence of these walls, some illegal immigration into Texas will occur that otherwise would not.”
“Tipton said the illegal immigration into Texas harms the state by incurring costs for administering driver’s licenses, education, and healthcare for a “rising number of illegal aliens,” according to the outlet.
“These injuries are concrete, imminent, and traceable” to the conduct of DHS, and Texas likely would suffer injuries from which there is no indication that the state “ever would be able to recover,” Tipton said.
The judge delayed by one week his order’s effect in anticipation of the Biden administration appealing the decision.
via thegatewaypundit