California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Sunday that he will “definitely and imminently” file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for declaring a national emergency at the U.S.’ southern border.
“It’s clear that this isn’t an emergency, it’s clear that in the mind of Donald Trump he needs to do something to try to fulfill a campaign promise,” Becerra said during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” The construction of a border wall has been a central issue for Trump since he first announced he was running for president in 2015.
Becerra added: “That doesn’t constitute a national emergency that would require us to essentially stand down on all sorts of federal laws and also violate the U.S. Constitution.”
Becerra, a former Democratic congressman for the state, has become one of the Trump administration’s biggest foils on a state level, especially in regards to the White House’s policies on immigration and border security.
“It’s become clear that this is not an emergency, not only because no one believes it is, but because Donald Trump himself has said it’s not,” Becerra said. “Typically, our presidents have focused on issues where the national interests are clearly at stake. The national interests aren’t at stake here.”- READ MORE