Feinstein on ‘Border Emergency’ Lawsuit

Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the following statement on the lawsuit brought by 16 states against President Trump and his border emergency declaration:

“I support the suit brought by California and 15 other states against President Trump’s so-called border emergency, which isn’t really an emergency at all. As President Trump said in his Rose Garden speech on Friday, ‘I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster.’

“Attorney General Becerra was right when he said President Trump ‘knows there is no border crisis, he knows his emergency declaration is unwarranted and he admits that he will likely lose this case in court.’

“The reason President Trump said he didn’t need to declare an emergency is because there is no emergency. Border crossings are at their lowest levels in years. In 2000, Customs and Border Protection reported more than 1.6 million apprehensions at the border. In 2017, the agency reported just 303,916 apprehensions. Many families looking to enter the country are doing so through the legal asylum process, not by crossing the border in remote areas.

“It’s also clear that this action is unconstitutional. Congress appropriates funds, not the president. The Constitution is very clear on that point. Congress specifically refused to fund the president’s border wall at the level he requested, and the Constitution does not allow the president to overrule the will of Congress when it comes to spending federal dollars, a point I expect federal courts to confirm.

“The lawsuit against the president calls this a ‘manufactured crisis,’ and that’s absolutely correct. The fearmongering that is emanating from the White House is pure politics, and we need to recognize it as such. There are ways we can invest in better border security to build on advancements we’ve made over the last decade, but raiding federal funds to pay for an unworkable border wall isn’t the way to do that.”

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