Our live coverage on the averted shutdown and President Trump’s national emergency declaration has ended. Read more from CNN Politics here.
As confirmed earlier by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, a White House press release confirms that President Trump has signed the spending bill.
Parts of the government were set to shut down tonight at midnight if the President did not sign the bill into law.
Here’s the statement:
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it will file a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration.
“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency. He just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster,’” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement.
The ACLU said it plans to argue “that President Trump’s use of emergency powers to evade Congressional funding restrictions is unprecedented.” The group said it will release more details about the lawsuit next week.
Read the full statement here.
President Trump just signed a spending bill to avert another government shutdown, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed to reporters on the North Lawn.
She said that the President signed the bill, which both the House and Senate passed last night, about “20 minutes ago.”
Parts of the government were set to shutdown tonight at midnight if the President did not sign the bill into law.
The White House just released the full text of President Trump’s national emergency declaration. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a picture of Trump signing the proclamation earlier today.
Here’s the presidential proclamation:
DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CONCERNING THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
The current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency. The southern border is a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics. The problem of large-scale unlawful migration through the southern border is long-standing, and despite the executive branch’s exercise of existing statutory authorities, the situation has worsened in certain respects in recent years. In particular, recent years have seen sharp increases in the number of family units entering and seeking entry to the United States and an inability to provide detention space for many of these aliens while their removal proceedings are pending. If not detained, such aliens are often released into the country and are often difficult to remove from the United States because they fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with orders of removal, or are otherwise difficult to locate. In response to the directive in my April 4, 2018, memorandum and subsequent requests for support by the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense has provided support and resources to the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border. Because of the gravity of the current emergency situation, it is necessary for the Armed Forces to provide additional support to address the crisis.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States, and that section 12302 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretaries of the military departments concerned, subject to the direction of the Secretary of Defense in the case of the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. To provide additional authority to the Department of Defense to support the Federal Government’s response to the emergency at the southern border, I hereby declare that this emergency requires use of the Armed Forces and, in accordance with section 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1631), that the construction authority provided in section 2808 of title 10, United States Code, is invoked and made available, according to its terms, to the Secretary of Defense and, at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the military departments. I hereby direct as follows:
Section 1. The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of each relevant military department, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall order as many units or members of the Ready Reserve to active duty as the Secretary concerned, in the Secretary’s discretion, determines to be appropriate to assist and support the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security at the southern border.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and, subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the military departments, shall take all appropriate actions, consistent with applicable law, to use or support the use of the authorities herein invoked, including, if necessary, the transfer and acceptance of jurisdiction over border lands.
Sec. 3. This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.
DONALD J. TRUMP
During his immigration speech in the Rose Garden earlier today, President Trump said, “I have a lot of money, and I built a lot of wall” – a misleading claim.
As of Friday, no new miles of wall have been constructed during Trump’s tenure. The walls that have been built during Trump’s time in office have been replacement projects for already existing structures.
A number of contracts have been awarded for these projects: Among them, nearly $300 million to build 40 miles of replacement structures in multiple locations. As of December, 35 of those 40 miles had been completed, according to Andrew Meehan of Customs and Border Protection.
However, there are preparations for new wall construction underway. CBP has awarded contracts for around 14 miles of new wall. Construction in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is expected to begin this month. Site preparations have already begun, according to a senior CBP official.
In his immigration speech in the Rose Garden, President Trump claimed that “two weeks ago, 26 were killed in a gunfight on the border a mile away from where I went.”
During the funding stalemate that shut down the government, the President visited McAllen, Texas in January.
Here’s what we know: A day before his visit, Mexican authorities found a grisly scene that they described as a gang clash: At least 20 bodies, many of them burned, and military-style bullets, according to Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas.
But the bodies were found near the Mexican town of Miguel Aleman, located nearly 130 miles northwest from McAllen, according to Google Maps.
CNN has found no reports of 26 people killed in a gunfight within a mile of the area Trump visited.
In his immigration speech today announcing a national emergency, Trump said, “A big majority of the big drugs, the big drug loads don’t go through ports of entry.”
It’s unclear what exactly Trump is claiming here regarding “big drug loads,” but the majority of hard narcotics seized at the border are coming through ports of entry — not between them as the President continues to claim.
Here are the facts:
The majority of hard narcotics seized by Customs and Border Protection come through ports of entry either in packages, cargo or with people who attempt to enter the US legally.
The only drug that is smuggled in higher numbers between legal entry points is marijuana, according to CBP and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
For example, the majority of the heroin flow on the southern border into the US is through privately owned vehicles at legal ports of entry, according to the DEA. About 90% of heroin seized at the border in the 2018 fiscal year was apprehended at ports of entry.
The majority of meth is also detained at the border. In 2018, CBP seized 67,292 pounds of meth at legal ports of entry, compared with 10,382 pounds by Border Patrol agents in between ports, based on available data.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Trump’s national emergency declaration is a “predictable and understandable” reaction to obstruction by the Democrats.
McConnell — who had previously opposed an emergency declaration — said Thursday he would support the move after Trump agreed to sign the compromise legislation to avert another government shutdown.
Here’s McConnell’s full statement from today:
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a defiant statement today after President Trump declared a national emergency at the border:
This could be the start of a long, nationwide legal battle. House Democrats are expected to sue, though chances of succeeding are slim. They could argue that the situation along the border is not a national emergency – but the definition of a national emergency is vague and largely up to the President’s discretion.
Similarly, landowners along the border whose property is at risk of being seized to mount physical barriers could file suit, and would have a better chance at a successful challenge.
Organizations might also get embroiled in the fight. The Border Network for Human Rights, a immigration reform and advocacy group, stated this morning that they are preparing to announce a lawsuit against the state of emergency declaration.
While President Trump declared a national emergency today in order to secure funding for his border wall, his Trump administration still hasn’t acquired the land it needs to build new physical barriers along the border, even as it embarks on new construction.
The timeline for construction for the first new 14 miles of wall — which is expected to begin in late March — partly depends on real estate acquisitions, according to a senior CBP official.
The start of construction was already pushed back from February to March, according to CBP estimates. It’s unclear what led to the delay.
How this will work: The administration plans to target the Rio Grande Valley, where much of the land is privately owned. Generally, the government is allowed to acquire privately owned land if it’s for public use, otherwise known as eminent domain.
The first approximately 14 miles of steel bollard wall to be built in the region will be on a combination of federal land and private land, which is still in the process of being acquired, said the official.
Eminent domain cases can be lengthy, though they generally don’t keep CBP from being able to proceed with construction. Landowners are often fighting for what is known as just compensation — what they deem a fair price for their property.
According to the Justice Department, as of last month, approximately 80 cases were still outstanding.
President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to fund the wall has drawn condemnation from Democrats — and it has not found universal support among Republicans, either.
“I’m disappointed with both the massive, bloated, secretive bill that just passed and with the president’s intention to declare an emergency to build a wall,” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tweeted Thursday, ahead of Trump’s expected announcement. “Extraconstitutional executive actions are wrong, no matter which party does them.”
“I generally don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida yesterday.
And Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also tweeted a statement, calling the decision “a mistake on the part of the President” and “just not good policy.”
Former Rep. Charlie Dent, now a CNN political commentator, criticized President Trump’s national emergency declaration as an illegal raid of the military’s construction funds. He said the move is “a slap in the face to congress and their power of the purse.”
“Of course, we need to establish control of the border, and the President is incapable of articulating a coherent plan,” Dent said. “But to raid military construction accounts – he is breaking the law. You cannot take money from a defense purpose to a non-defense purpose under the budget act. That is the law.”
He added that Republican members of the armed services committee were likely to “set themselves on fire over this,” describing the declaration as “a slap in the face to Congress and their power of the purse making authorities.”
Watch the moment:
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said President Trump’s national emergency declaration does “great violence” to the US Constitution.
In a joint statement, they said the so-called crisis at the border that Trump described “does not exist.”
They urged their Republican colleagues to fight against the declaration.
“Just as both parties honored our oath to protect the American people by passing the conference committee bill, the Congress on a bipartisan basis must honor the Constitution by defending our system of checks and balances,” they said. “The President is not above the law. The Congress cannot let the President shred the Constitution,”
Here’s their full statement:
Even as he prepares to sign a national emergency declaration, President Trump appeared to complain that the border security appropriations bill he will sign provides too much funding.
Still, he said, the one area where Democrats refused to give him sufficient funding is on the border wall – hence requiring the national emergency.
Trump also lamented that he wasn’t able to build the wall earlier in his presidency, blaming others who he said, “didn’t step up.”
“Would’ve been great to do it earlier, but I was a little new to the job,” he said.
“People did not step up – would’ve been easy, not easy, but it would’ve been a lot easier, but some people didn’t step up,” Trump said, apparently referring to the once-Republican controlled House.
“But we’re stepping up now.”
Watch the moment:
As President Trump takes questions in the Rose Garden, press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a black-and-white photograph of the President signing the national emergency declaration in the Oval Office.
President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull funds from the Department of Defense military construction budget in order to build a border wall, claiming that “some of the generals think this is more important.”
Trump also touted the fact that he’s increased the military budget in recent years.
President Trump said he’ll sign the final paper work to declare a national emergency to fund his wall as soon as he gets back to his office — and he’s already anticipating a legal challenge.
After he signs national emergency and executive action paperwork, Trump said, “We will then be sued,” rattling off a possible chain of events, which included bad ruling in the 9th Circuit Court, which he has previously lamented.
“We will possibly get another bad ruling, and then we’ll get another bad ruling, and then we’ll end up in the Supreme Court,” Trump said, comparing the process to challenges to his administration’s travel ban.
“And then, hopefully, we’ll get a fair shake.”
What this is about: There has been speculation that Democrats or landowners on the Souther border would sue if President Trump declared a national emergency to build the wall.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said just yesterday that the Democrats could take legal action.
“I may. That’s an option,” she told reporters Thursday.
Watch the moment:
Speaking from the Rose Garden, President Trump confirmed he will declare a national emergency in order to secure funding to build a wall at the southern border.
He argued that his actions are consistent with those of his predecessors.
“I’m going to be signing a national emergency, and it’s been signed many times before. It’s been signed by other presidents from 1977 or so it gave the presidents the power,” Trump said. “There’s rarely been a problem. They sign it, nobody cares. I guess they weren’t very exciting.”
The President argued that he is doing so to address “an invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs.”
“We don’t control our own border,” Trump said. “We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we’re going to do it – one way or the other we have to do it.”
Trump went on to repeat his past talking points about “tremendous amounts of drugs” crossing into the US from the southern border – even though the majority of those drugs come through ports of entry – and addressed the issue of human trafficking.
He once again reiterated his claim that El Paso is safer because of the border fencing, despite statistics showing violent crime rates did not go down as a result of the construction of fencing there.
Watch the moment:
As Trump launched into his immigration speech at the Rose Garden, he pledged action against “the national security crisis on our southern border.”
“We are going to do it one way or the other. We have to do it. Not just because it was a campaign promise – which it is.”
He then decried the “drugs flowing into our country” through the southern border, and accused Democrats of lying about drugs entering through ports of entry.
“They go through areas where you have no wall. Everybody knows that. Nancy knows it. Chuck knows it. They all know it. It’s all a big lie. It’s a big con game,” he said, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.
Some context: In describing the effectiveness of the wall, Trump brought up El Paso, Texas, where he held a rally Monday night. He described the border town’s crime rate decreasing since the construction of a border fence — a familiar but inaccurate claim. Violent crime had actually been falling a full decade before the fence was built.
