President Donald Trump has pledged to push ahead with a border wall, using sweeping emergency powers to reallocate funding from the Military Construction Fund and other sources. However, the president is already facing a slew of legal challenges. The Attorney Generals of California, Nevada, New Mexico, and even New York are pressing ahead with legal challenges. So are landowners and local governments.
And we can’t forget about Congress, can we? While the biggest challenge will likely come from Democrats in the House, even some Republicans have lashed out at the president. Some may join Democratic members of Congress to pursue recourse against President Trump and his emergency declaration.
So why all the hate? Turns out, the border wall will disrupt a lot of people and communities. Many property owners, for example, own property along the border. If the border wall is built on their land, some of their land could be confiscated. In some cases, landowners own connecting land on both sides of the border. That could be divided by the border wall, making access difficult.
Similar disruptions could happen to entire communities. The community of Roma, Texas has been battling with the Department of Homeland Security about where exactly the wall will go.
The city sits right next to Mexico and there are currently no walls or barriers. The federal government is arguing that the community is exposed to dangers. The community itself has flatly denied the charges. In fact, many members of the community are more worried about the fact that the border wall will cut them off from the Rio Grande River.
As for Congress, many members have pointed out that the Constitution grants Congress and Congress alone the right to set budgets and spending. Trump’s efforts to build a wall, some argue, circumvent the Constitution. Critics in Congress charge that there is no national emergency and thus any funding for a border wall should first go through Congress.
