Missouri, Texas sue Biden admin in aim to resume construction of border wall
Fox News
Missouri and Texas' attorney generals have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, seeking to force the administration to resume construction of the border wall.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argue that the administration's halting of the wall's construction when President Joe Biden took office in January redirected funds appropriated for the project, and in doing so violated the separation of powers and the Take Care clause of the Constitution.
"Time and again, the Biden administration has refused to take concrete action to quell the worsening border crisis, inviting the cartels and human drug smugglers to take advantage of our porous border," Schmitt said in a statement. "Without a border wall, illegal immigrants, coyotes, and bad actors can simply march across our southern border and into the interior. The border wall needs to be built, the funds have been appropriated to continue to build the wall, and yet the Biden Administration outright refuses to do so."
Schmitt's office points to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, wherein Congress specifically appropriated more than $1.3 billion for "construction of barrier system along the southwest border." The FY2021 DHS Appropriations Act also appropriated the same amount of funds, the Missouri AG said. So, nearly $3 billion Congress appropriated for building the wall were redirected by the Biden administration.