President-elect Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit to block Biden’s leadership from promoting unused fabrics for the border wall.
On Wednesday, Trump filed an amicus brief in the Southern District of Texas, urging a federal ruling to halt the sale of leftover fabrics originally intended for the U. S. -Mexico border wall.
The case centers on allegations that federal officials are holding “liquidation sales” of unused border wall fabric, which could harm Trump’s plans to resume the border wall structure.
Newsweek has contacted the Biden-Harris administration for comment via email.
Reports emerged that fabric intended for the wall had been disposed of in Arizona and scheduled to be sold at auction, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch defender of the barrier, prepares to return to the House of Representatives to present your proposal. strict immigration agenda.
Video footage received through The Daily Wire shows symptoms of the border wall transported near Tucson, Texas, to a government surplus auction site, GovPlanet.
In 2023, Congress directed President Joe Biden’s administration to dispose of unused border wall materials, under the National Defense Authorization Act.
The law allows the sale or donation of such fabrics to southern border states, as long as they are used to fix existing barriers and build new ones.
The amicus brief accuses the Biden administration of violating federal law by removing materials appropriated by Congress for border security. Trump’s filing also calls for a judicial review to determine whether the sales violated legal mandates.
The brief, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, requests an immediate halt to the sales and a thorough investigation into the administration’s actions. It argues that the reported sales violate a Congressional mandate to construct border barriers, flout an existing court injunction, and could obstruct Trump’s incoming administration from fulfilling its border security agenda.
The document seen by Newsweek states: “President Trump is deeply troubled by recent reports that officials in the Biden Administration have been selling off border-wall materials at rock-bottom prices, especially during this lame-duck period.
“On December 17, 2024, President Trump said he had obtained information that the Biden administration was promoting border wall fabric for ‘five cents on the dollar’ and that it was ‘almost a criminal act. ‘
Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told Newsweek: “President Trump has filed an amicus brief in the Southern District of Texas requesting that a highly reputable federal court issue a prompt judgment to prevent the ‘fire sale. ‘ of fabric for the border wall by the Biden administration at rock-bottom prices and ordered an investigation.
“Any attempt by Biden officials to obstruct President Trump’s plan to build the border wall is illegal, unconstitutional and most likely criminal, as our brief maintains.
“The Biden leadership has a blatant record of violating the law, specifically its catastrophic open borders policy, so the courts deserve to view its moves here with particular skepticism. President Trump will not be deterred from building the wall, to protect our border and Make America Great Again. “
Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Maybe we will get lucky and they’ll stop it all together and allow the oncoming administration to utilize these panels for what they were intended for (protect our nation’s borders).” This is not a smooth transition of power like it was told by the current administration.”
Biden halted construction of the border wall when he took office in 2021. His predecessor and future successor, Trump, made the wall the cornerstone of his immigration policy. He has pledged to restart the structure as soon as he returns to power in January.
With the arrival to power of the new administration, it is expected that the emblematic policies of Trump’s first administration will resume.
The president-elect has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in US history and crack down on illegal immigration.
Billal Rahman is a journalist with Live News in London, United Kingdom. He specializes in foreign affairs and American politics. He joined Newsweek in 2024 from The Independent. He covered the British Post Office scandal and the standoff between Israel and Hamas. Originally from Glasgow, he studied journalism in Edinburgh and then worked for STV News before moving to London in 2022. Billal can be contacted at b. rahman@newsweek. com.