The Patriot Post® · Trump Wins Two Key Border Victories

It’s not often President Donald Trump secures a judicial win on the issue of immigration. But the Supreme Court ruled Friday that Trump can use military funds to expand the border barrier. The Wall Street Journal reports, “In a 5-4 decision, the justices of the U.S. high court said President Trump can shift about $2.5 billion in military funds to construct an additional 100 miles of wall at the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to seal off the U.S. from illegal immigration.”

In February, Trump declared the border crisis a national emergency, which included an executive move to shift available Pentagon funds to build a border barrier, which we’d argue is a legitimate way to address a crisis of national security. The ecofascist Sierra Club and its allies immediately sued to stop him, alleging that a wall would infringe on “recreational and aesthetic interests” like “hiking, birdwatching, [and] photography.” They prevailed at every level until Friday.

Left unsettled, however, is the question of the president’s authority. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the lawsuit filed by House Democrats seeking to block the funding on the grounds that Congress has specifically declined to authorize this barrier money.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi groused, “For months, the President has sought to undermine our military readiness and steal from our men and women in uniform to waste billions on a wasteful, ineffective wall that Congress on a bipartisan basis has repeatedly refused to fund. The Supreme Court’s decision tonight to allow President Trump to defy the bipartisan will of the Congress and proceed with contracts to spend billions of dollars on his wall undermines the Constitution and the law.”

Congress has indeed been derelict in its duty to secure America’s borders, and both parties are guilty. But Democrats undermine military readiness at every opportunity, along with promising “free” stuff to the migrants who can make it across our borders illegally. Moreover, they’ve effectively surrendered any right to talk about defending the Constitution and Rule of Law. It is certainly true that the office of the president has taken too much power, but it is also true that Congress has deliberately ceded that authority because its members are more concerned with reelection than with their constitutional duties.

Trump’s second victory Friday was regarding asylum. The Washington Times reports, “President Trump inked a deal with Guatemala on Friday to crack down on migrants who cross that country’s territory en route to the U.S. to claim asylum, with Guatemala’s government agreeing to take them back.” That means primarily Hondurans and Salvadorans would be required to first seek asylum in Guatemala or Mexico before proceeding to the U.S. Guatemalans are not affected by the deal, though more of them are crossing the U.S. border than any other nationality.

The deal is similar to an agreement with Mexico that is working quite well to stem the tide of Central Americans overrunning the U.S. border, often with bogus claims of asylum.