San Francisco, July 2 (RHC)-- In the United States, a federal judge has barred President Donald Trump from using $2.5 billion in Defense Department funds to build a border wall following his declaration of a national emergency in February.

The move by California Judge Haywood Gilliam comes in response to two separate lawsuits and expands his ruling in May that said Trump does not have the authority to circumvent Congress to appropriate the funds required for construction.

The ACLU -- the American Civil Liberties Union -- brought one of the suits on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition.  Gloria Smith, an attorney at the Sierra Club, applauded the decision, saying: “Walls divide neighborhoods, worsen dangerous flooding, destroy lands and wildlife, and waste resources that should instead be used on the infrastructure these communities truly need.”