US Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump’s appeal on border wall funding while reviewing legality of ‘stay in Mexico’ policy

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Donald Trump’s administration over a ruling that he overstepped his constitutional boundaries when funneling military funds to border wall construction.

The legal battle around Trump’s 2016 campaign cornerstone – the US-Mexico border wall – continued on Monday when the Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.

Back in June, a lower court ruled that the Trump administration’s decision to shift military money to construction of a border wall, after Congress had refused to appropriate funds for the project, was illegal. Trump took $2.5 billion from military counter-narcotics programs for the wall’s construction in California, New Mexico, and Arizona. The court argued that the US government purse lays exclusively in the hands of Congress, citing the Appropriations Clause in the US Constitution.

While the wall-funding saga continues, another Trump policy has come under Supreme Court scrutiny. The Court has agreed to decide the legality of the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy which obliges asylum seekers arriving by land at the US border to stay in Mexico while their applications are being reviewed.

The administration argued that the policy has greatly reduced the flow of migrants from Central America into the US. However, a lower court ruled last year that it likely violated federal immigration laws. The policy remains in effect after that court’s decision was put on hold by the Supreme Court in March, while the legal struggle continues.

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