https://aclj.org/national-security/president-trumps-declaration-of-national-emergency-to-secure-southern-border-by-building-a-wall-is-supported-by-both-constitutional-and-statutory-authority?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Informational&utm_content=National%20Security&sf98879591=1

The President has just declared a National Emergency on our southern border. He has stated that he will reapportion funds to combat this national emergency through the construction of a border wall.

In declaring the National Emergency, President Trump stated he was doing so to address a “national security crisis.” He highlighted the increased problem of drugs, gangs, violent crime, and human trafficking coming across the southern border.

The ACLJ has prepared an extensive legal analysis of this issue and concluded that, based on the facts at hand, the President has both the constitutional and statutory authority to declare such a National Emergency and to secure funding for a wall on our southern border.

In short, the President of the United States possesses the authority under the National Emergencies Act to declare a national emergency for the purposes of securing the Nation from sundry threats and to halt an ongoing humanitarian crisis, resulting from a lack of funding to deal with the current situation. To be clear, as we will explain in detail below, Congress has specifically granted the President express statutory authority to make this declaration.

The threats facing our borders are steeply rising and without stricter border security, our nation remains vulnerable to the drug and crime violence that proliferate along the U.S./Mexico border. According to Department of Homeland Security data, within the last three years, “DHS has seized 74 percent more currency, 41 percent more drugs, and 159 percent more weapons along the Southwest border as compared to fiscal years 2006-2008.”

Across the board, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refuses entry to 7 known or suspected terrorists every day, 50 every week, and 2,500 every year.” There has been a 300% increase in unaccompanied alien children and a 600% increase in family units for fiscal year (FY) 2017. The Border Patrol also saw a 73% increase in assaults on officers along the Southwest border for FY 2017.

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