WASHINGTON— Recent media reports suggest that the Trump Administration is planning to shift $7.2 billion from the Defense Department to construct new border wall along the Southern border. The funds will come from military construction projects and counternarcotics funding.

“For the second year in a row, President Trump is breaking the law to fuel his border wall obsession,” said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva. “With these stolen funds, he’s constructing an unnecessary, useless wall that divides friends and families, bulldozes through sacred lands and delicate ecosystems, and further militarizes border communities.”

The Trump Administration has amassed $18.4 billion in funds to construct a border wall, some appropriated by Congress and others stolen from military funds. The administration has also waived dozens of federal laws to construct it—including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.

“I hope that the courts determine what we’ve known all along: The President’s actions are illegal and unconstitutional,” continued Rep. Grijalva. “If Trump truly cared about border communities, he would invest in upgrading our ports of entry and stop waiving important environmental laws that safeguard the public health of our communities. Instead, he will stop at nothing to build his ugly monument to his racist policies—no matter the long-term detrimental damage to the resources, environment, and people along the borderlands.”

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