Filed Date: Feb. 15, 2019
Closed Date: April 23, 2019
Clearinghouse coding complete
Throughout his campaign and presidency, Donald Trump advocated for the construction of a wall along the southern border of the United States. In 2018, President Trump requested that Congress appropriate $5.7 billion to build a steel border wall. Congress refused, and instead appropriated $1.375 billion for 55 miles of wall. President Trump signed that appropriations bill, but also declared a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, directing the Department of Defense to reallocate military funds in order to build the wall.
On the same day as the president’s national emergency declaration, this lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Several landowners in Starr County, Texas, with property on the United States–Mexico border, asserted that the construction of the wall through their property threatened “imminent invasion of their privacy and the quiet enjoyment of their land.” The Frontera Audubon Society, a non-profit Texas environmental organization, contended that the construction of the wall would destroy critical habitat and impair the ability of the Society’s members’ to observe wildlife. Their complaint, filed on 2/15/2019, sought declaratory and injunctive relief against President Trump and his Secretary of Defense, and was assigned to Judge Trevor N. McFadden.
The plaintiffs alleged that President Trump’s declaration exceeded his constitutional and statutory authority, because the Constitution grants all appropriations authority to Congress. Through the National Emergencies Act, Congress had given some power to the executive to reallocate military funds in an emergency; the plaintiffs contended, however, that the Act was not intended to allow the president to circumvent Congress when Congress had explicitly refused to provide the funding that he was seeking. Additionally, the plaintiffs asserted that in light of government statistics indicating a significant decline in legal and illegal border crossings, there was no emergency at the southern border. Finally, the plaintiffs claimed that the National Emergencies Act allowed reallocation of funds only for military construction projects, and that the border wall did not fit into that category and was thus ineligible for reallocated funds.
In April 2019, the Trump administration submitted sworn declarations to the court, committing to use no reallocated funds for the section of border wall in dispute in this case, but rather to use only funds appropriated by Congress in its 2018 or 2019 appropriations bills. As a result, the plaintiffs dismissed their claims on April 22, 2019, and the court dismissed the case the next day.
Summary Authors
Mackenzie Walz (3/6/2019)
Gregory Marsh (7/10/2020)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14555857/parties/alvarez-v-trump/
McFadden, Trevor Neil (District of Columbia)
Kirkpatrick, Michael T (District of Columbia)
Davis, Kathryn Celia (District of Columbia)
HEGHMANN, ROBERT A. (District of Columbia)
Joseph, Lawrence J (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14555857/alvarez-v-trump/
Last updated March 22, 2025, 11:24 a.m.
State / Territory: District of Columbia
Case Type(s):
Presidential/Gubernatorial Authority
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 1.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: Feb. 15, 2019
Closing Date: April 23, 2019
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Three landowners and a non-profit environmental organization in Texas whose property or work interests would be harmed by the construction of a southern border wall.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
President Donald Trump, Federal
Department of Defense, Federal
Case Details
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Immigration/Border: