Trump slapped with wall construction freeze

San Diego: An appeals court has upheld a freeze on Pentagon money to build a border wall with Mexico, casting doubt on US President Donald Trump's ability to make good on a signature campaign promise before 4th of July celebrations and the 2020 election.

A divided three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with a lower court ruling that prevented the government from tapping Defence Department counter-drug money to build high-priority sections of wall in Arizona and New Mexico.

A visitor takes a photograph near a section of the US and Mexico border wall on the beach in Tijuana, Mexico.Credit: Bloomberg

The decision is a setback for Trump's ambitious plans. He ended a 35-day government shutdown in February after Congress gave him far less than he wanted. He then declared a national emergency that the White House said would free billions of dollars from the Pentagon.

The case may still be considered, but the administration cannot build during the legal challenge.

A freeze imposed by US District Judge Haywood Gilliam jnr in May prevented work on two Pentagon-funded wall contracts - one spanning 74 kilometres in New Mexico and another covering 8km in Yuma, Arizona.

While the order applied only to those first-in-line projects, Gilliam made clear that he felt the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups were likely to prevail at trial in their argument that the President was ignoring Congress' wishes by diverting Defence Department money.

On Friday, Gilliam ruled definitively that the administration couldn't use Pentagon counter-drug money for the two projects covered in his May order or to replace a 101-km sector in the Border Patrol's Tucson, Arizona, or 24km in its El Centro, California, sector.

Trump immediately vowed to appeal.

The administration has awarded $US2.8 billion ($4 billion) in contracts for barriers covering 390km, with all but 27km of that to replace existing barriers not expand coverage. It is preparing for a flurry of construction that the President is already celebrating at campaign-style rallies.

Trump inherited barriers spanning 1046km, or about one-third of the border with Mexico. Of the length covered under Trump-awarded contracts, more than half is with Pentagon money.

The Army Corps of Engineers also recently announced several large Pentagon-funded contracts.

AP