Democrats File Suit Against Border Wall Spending

WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the border (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

House Democrats have filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing President Donald Trump from spending more money than Congress has approved to erect barriers along the southwestern border.

Democrats say Trump’s attempt to transfer billions of dollars from several programs to wall construction violates the Constitution, which gives Congress control over spending. The 45-page complaint was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls Trump’s act a “brazen assault” on the Constitution.

Congress approved just under $1.4 billion for work on border barricades. Trump has asserted he can use his powers as chief executive to transfer another $6.7 billion to wall construction.

Attorneys general from 20 states, plus environmental and progressive groups, have filed other lawsuits aimed at blocking the transfers.

__

5 p.m.

President Donald Trump is showcasing a section of border wall that separates the United States and Mexico.

Trump visited the section of fencing in Calexico, California, on Friday and declared that “it looks great” and was “better, faster, less expensive” than other barrier options.

The fence Trump is touring is a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.

The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.

The new 30-foot-tall, 2.25-mile-long barrier replaced fencing that was made of hrlicopter landing mats from the Vietnam War.

__

4:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump is downplaying the claims of people seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump says: “I look at some of these asylum people. They’re gang members. They’re not afraid of anything.”

Trump is also comparing some efforts to seek asylum to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.

Trump says: “It’s a scam, it’s a hoax. I know about hoaxes. I just went through a hoax.”

Trump traveled Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing along the border with Mexico.

__

3:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump says his administration is ensuring the country knows “this is an actual emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump traveled Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to a surge of migrant families coming to the U.S. in recent months.

Trump says the administration is making progress in building a border wall and says he expects “close to 400 miles” to be completed within the next two years.

The fence that Trump is touring in Calexico is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.

Trump says of the border wall, “We’ve done a lot, we’ve renovated a lot.”

__

3:20 p.m.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has denounced President Donald Trump’s comments about getting rid of the asylum system. The governor issued the strong criticism in a statement Friday as the president arrived in California to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.

Newsom says that since its founding, the United States has been a refuge and safe haven for people fleeing tyranny, oppression and violence.

The governor says the president’s rhetoric disregards the Constitution, the justice system “and what it means to be an American.”

In comments at the White House as he left for California, Trump urged Congress “to get rid of the whole asylum system because it doesn’t work.” Trump’s administration has been pushing Congress to pass legislation that would tighten asylum rules.

__

2:46 p.m.

President Donald Trump is in California to meet with local law enforcement officials at a border patrol station and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to stop migrant families coming to the U.S.

The fence that Trump is touring in Calexico is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall.

The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.

The visit comes after Trump sparked confusion with a threat to seal the southern border.

Trump said Thursday he wouldn’t act for a year, and issued a fresh threat to place tariffs on autos manufactured in Mexico.

__

8:52 a.m.

President Donald Trump is ramping up his attacks on Democrats as he looks to make border security an issue for the 2020 re-election campaign.

Trump’s campaign released a new video attacking 2020 Democrats for dismissing what Trump calls a “crisis” at the border.

Trump travels Friday to Southern California to meet with local law enforcement officials and to tour a section of recently rebuilt fencing he cites as the answer to stop a surge of migrant families coming to the U.S. in recent months.

The fence that Trump is touring is a two-mile section that was a long-planned replacement for an older barrier, rather than new wall. The White House says the barrier is marked with a plaque bearing Trump’s name and those of top homeland security officials.