The Supreme Court agreed this morning to hear legal challenges to two of President Donald Trump’s signature immigration-related policies—construction of a wall on the nation’s southern border to stem the flow of illegal aliens, and his policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for claim adjudication.
The court, according to its custom, provided no rationale for granting review in the legal cases Oct. 19. Oral arguments in the cases are not expected to take place before Election Day. The Trump administration had asked the court to review both cases.
The Supreme Court currently has only eight members instead of the usual nine because Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Sept. 18. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Oct. 22 on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to succeed her. Trump and Senate Republicans leaders have said they want Barrett confirmed before Election Day.
The border wall case, Trump v. Sierra Club, concerns the president’s order under the National Emergencies Act to reprogram funding previously allocated to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to wall construction. Lawmakers attempted to override his edict but failed. The showdown between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government over the funding led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, running from Dec. 22, 2018, to Jan. 25, 2019.
Environmentalists sued over Trump’s efforts to use funding from the DOD Appropriations Act of 2019 to build the wall along the Mexican border in California, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Lower courts agreed with the activists who argued Trump did not have the authority to use the funding for purposes other than Congress intended, and the construction should be halted because the wall would interfere with opportunities for birdwatching and other recreational activities in the affected border areas.
In July 2019, the Supreme Court allowed the government to go forward with construction while the case worked its way through the appeals courts.
In the other case the Supreme Court agreed to hear, Wolf v. Innovation Law Lab, the justices will consider the administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program that requires non-Mexican asylum seekers appearing at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their claims to be adjudicated.
Lower courts have ruled against the policy, but the Supreme Court previously allowed it to continue being enforced while litigation over its lawfulness was pending.
This is a developing story. This article will be updated as needed.
From The Epoch Times
