US judge deals blow to Trump’s border wall plans

WASHINGTON: A US federal judge dealt a blow Friday to President Donald Trump's signature wall project, issuing a temporary injunction against using Defence Department funds to pay for barriers on the border with Mexico.

Trump declared an emergency in a bid to bypass Congress to obtain money for border wall construction after a standoff over funding for the project led to the longest government shutdown in US history. About 20 states, including Democratic strongholds New York and California, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), environmental groups and border communities are involved in suits that claim the emergency declaration violates the constitution.

Trump administration officials "are enjoined from taking any action to construct a border barrier in the areas defendants have identified as Yuma Sector Project 1 and El Paso Sector Project 1 using funds reprogrammed by DoD," Judge Haywood Gilliam ordered, referring to the Department of Defense.

"Congress´s ´absolute´ control over federal expenditures -- even when that control may frustrate the desires of the Executive Branch regarding initiatives it views as important -- is not a bug in our constitutional system," Gilliam wrote.