HEMISPHERIC THEMES: Trump switches tack and praises Mexican-American judge who ruled in favor of border wall

WASHINGTON — Late last month, Mexican-American Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled in favor of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in a lawsuit attempting to block construction of the president’s controversial wall along the US-Mexico border.

The federal magistrate, whose impartiality Trump in a past case had called into question because of his Mexican heritage, ruled against the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed regarding the possibility that the US government might issue environmental waivers to accelerate construction of the wall.

The next day, President Trump put California on notice in a tweet that he wouldn’t complete his much-promised wall on its border until the entire barrier was erected – even though the state’s attorney general said the “medieval” structure has no place in the “21st century.”

“I have decided that sections of the Wall that California wants built NOW will not be built until the whole Wall is approved,” he tweeted. “Big victory yesterday with ruling from the courts that allows us to proceed. OUR COUNTRY MUST HAVE BORDER SECURITY!”

Trump referred to the ruling by Curiel, whom he maligned as “biased” during the 2016 campaign for his Mexican heritage. That ruling sided with the Department of Homeland Security in a legal challenge that paves the way for a section of the wall to be built on the California border.

But Trump’s remarks about not building that portion of the barrier seems to play right into the hands of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who brought the suit against DHS and has pledged to continue to challenge the Trump administration over immigration issues and the wall.

“We will evaluate all of our options and are prepared to do what is necessary to protect our people, our values, and our economy from federal overreach,” Becerra said. “A medieval wall along the U.S.-Mexico border simply does not belong in the 21st century.”

Previously, the president said he was considering pulling Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from California as punishment for its “lousy management job” of enforcing immigration laws.

“You know what, I’m thinking about doing it,” Trump said during a meeting at the White House. “We’re getting no help from the state of California. Frankly, if I pulled our people from California, you would have a crime nest like you’ve never seen in California. All I’d have to do is say ‘ICE, Border Patrol, leave California alone.’”

Trump lost the Golden State to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election by 30 percentage points.

The tweets also show the president appears to have a newfound admiration for Curiel, whom he blasted as a “hater” during the campaign when the Indiana-born judge was presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University.

“I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater,” Trump said. “His name is Gonzalo Curiel and he is not doing the right thing.”

Changing tack, Trump was praising his “big legal win” after Curiel’s decision.

“Big legal win today. U.S. judge sided with the Trump Administration and rejected the attempt to stop the government from building a great Border Wall on the Southern Border. Now this important project can go forward!​,” Trump wrote last week.​

Source: EFE News Agency, NY Post and other media reports

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