Saguaro cactus stands on the Mexico side of the border wall at Organ Pipe. /Photo: April Wong
By Madeline Ackley | Arizona Republic
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that President Donald Trump may not proceed with a plan to allocate $3.6 billion in military construction funds to build barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The suit was brought by the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition.
The 2-1 decision upheld a December 2019 district court summary judgment that ruled military funds could not be used for border wall construction. However, construction was allowed to continue under the 2019 decision pending an appeal by the government, but Friday’s ruling halted construction activity completely.
In a brief appearance on Saturday, his first public event since his positive COVID-19 diagnosis, Trump mentioned progress on the wall, but not the ruling. “The wall is now 380 miles long; it’ll soon be finished,” he said.
