The White House is preparing a draft of an emergency declaration President Trump could issue to secure funding for a border wall along the southern Mexico border.
Internal documents show the administration has identified more than $7 billion in funding for the wall if Trump opts to declare a national emergency, WREG News reports.
The draft declaration argues that:
” The massive amount of aliens who unlawfully enter the United States each day is a direct threat to the safety and security of our nation and constitutes a national emergency.”
The draft goes on to add:
“Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C 1601, et seq.), hereby declare that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States”
The administration would look to pull most of the money for the wall from military construction and Pentagon civil works funds, with additional funding coming from treasury forfeitures and the Department of Homeland Security.
Democrats, including the democratic majority House of Representative oppose the emergency declaration and the building of a border wall.
The United States government is currently in a partial shutdown, which is hampering funding for many government agencies, forcing 800,000 government workers to not receive a pay check. The shutdown has been going on for 34 days now.
The shutdown prevents FBI agents from being paid along with ICE agents, TSA agents, and employees in many other government agencies. The Senate on Thursday rejected two measures to reopen the government.
