US federal judge blocks use of some funds for border wall

[WASHINGTON] A US federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's use of US$1 billion in funds to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico, but declined to issue a permanent injunction.

The Trump administration has sought to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, but has so far proven unsuccessful at receiving congressional approval to do so.

In February, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to reprogram US$6.7 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for other purposes to build the wall, which states and groups, including California, had challenged.

US District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California said the use of the funds for the wall for "border barrier construction" in two areas "is unlawful."

REUTERS