Border wall: Biden administration asks Supreme Court to suspend arguments

The Justice Department said Biden had ordered a “construction break” so that the government could assess “the legality of financing and the methods of contracting used to build the wall”. The American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition asked the Supreme Court last year to block construction of the wall.

After just a few hours of his presidency, Biden immediately shot one of his predecessor’s key legacies by signing a proclamation calling for an end to the construction of the border wall. The government case on Monday shows how the Biden Department of Justice is taking action to halt construction, while reviewing the former government’s actions.

In a separate Supreme Court case, the Justice Department is calling for the oral allegations to be suspended in a case over Trump-era policy that requires non-Mexican migrants to remain in Mexico until the next hearing in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security recently stopped enrolling in the program, marking a step to shut it down entirely. This case is scheduled for March 1. Thousands of migrants subject to the policy continue to wait in Mexico in dangerous and deplorable conditions.

Organizations that challenge the so-called “Stay in Mexico” policy in the process include the Innovation Law Lab, along with other immigrant rights groups.

The Biden administration is set to reverse scores from Trump administration policies. In the short term, Elizabeth Prelogar, Biden’s acting attorney general, is expected to play a key role in managing a wave of potential reversals on issues such as immigration, health and religion.

Biden is expected to sign more executive immigration actions on Tuesday at the White House.

Border appropriation land appropriation efforts have decreased

In a court document filed on January 22, the Department of Justice called for the continuation of a land seizure case for “at least 60 days”, citing the proclamation of Biden’s Inauguration Day which in part directs a review of the diverted funds for the construction of walls.

In another case, the Ministry of Justice said it would reject an application for immediate land tenure, according to Ricardo de Anda, a lawyer for Guillermo Caldera, who lives in Laredo, Texas, and whose property is in danger of being seized.

“We are excited that the court will take judicial notice of the Executive Order signed by President Biden suspending the construction of the Trump border wall, by ordering the government to notify the court and the parties if they intend to proceed with the seizure of Texas properties, “De Anda said in a statement. Two other cases await similar motions to be brought forward, said De Anda.

Ricky Garza, a lawyer for the Texas Civil Rights Project, a legal defense group that represents landowners in land seizure cases, said CNN owners are in a “control standard”.

“There have been moves towards a break and that is positive,” said Garza. “What needs to happen now is for management to review and reject all of these cases.”

Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas, a critic of the Trump border wall, said on Thursday that the government had notified his office that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was halting real estate acquisitions in accordance with Biden’s executive order. .

“Today, I received a notification that, in accordance with President Biden’s executive order, real estate acquisition activities, such as surveys and negotiations with landowners, have been suspended in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Cuellar said in a statement.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which provides direction and supervision for border projects, “suspended work on all border infrastructure projects for the DoD and DHS until further notice,” said Raini Brunson, an agency spokesman.

Dror Ladin, senior lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, praised the decision to postpone the Supreme Court’s oral arguments, but said more needs to be done.

“It is a good start that the Biden government is not rushing to defend Trump’s illegal wall in court, but just putting on the brakes is not enough. The Trump wall has devastated border communities, the environment and tribal sites,” he said. Ladin. “It is time for the Biden government to act on behalf of the border communities and to commit to mitigating environmental damage and tearing down the wall.”

Trump accelerated lawsuits

The Trump administration has accelerated the filing of cases over the past four years in its efforts to build additional barriers on the southern border. At the center of these cases were landowners, some of whom supported the wall and others criticized it.

Joseph Hein, a landowner in Laredo whose property was being overhauled for construction, described the past four years as being in a “state of limbo”.

“I was basically at their mercy by giving me the information they wanted to give me, and basically the information they were giving me was nothing,” said Hein, referring to the Army and Customs and Border Protection Corps of Engineers.

Biden’s proclamation ended Trump’s national emergency declaration, which allowed the previous government to plunge into Pentagon funds, and calls for the contracts to be reviewed.

The changes in the construction of the border wall made under Biden so far have also raised questions in ongoing border wall cases. Shortly after the release of Biden’s proclamation, Judge Haywood Gilliam directed the parties in an ongoing wall case to provide an update by February 16.