Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli gave “two enthusiastic thumbs up” Friday to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 vote denying a request to halt construction of President Trump’s border wall over environmental concerns.
“The president has told us and he has directed his administration to press ahead aggressively, but always within the boundaries of the law, always within the boundaries of the law,” Cuccinelli said on “Hannity.” “And the Supreme Court acknowledged that today and has let the building of the wall continue past 200 miles more than a month ago, [it] will pass 300 miles before well before the end of the summer. And we’ll pass 400 miles not long after that.”
“We’ll certainly get well over 400 miles by the end of the year, just as this president promised,” Cuccinelli added.
A number of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Sierra Club, had asked the high court to get involved again after the justices cleared the way last year for the administration to use military funds to build the wall while the case played out in the courts.
NEARLY HALF OF 258 SURVEYED POLICE AGENCIES SEE BUDGETS CUT: REPORT
Cuccinelli also reacted to a soon-to-be-released survey of 258 police departments nationwide that shows almost half have had their budgets cut, largely to training and equipment.
“For purely political reasons, you have left-wing governments, city councils, mayors and so forth cutting these budgets. And let’s be really clear about who is hurt the most,” he said. “Where do you need policing the most? It’s needed the most in the poorest communities, the communities that are most crime-ridden and they are disproportionately minority.”
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Cuccinelli described President Trump as “upset” about the budget cuts and “continuously” fighting for the interests of law enforcement.
“It’s a balance. He’s very tough, very tough on crime, but he also knows we need to get it right,” he said. “He did what his predecessor wouldn’t do on the reform side. And now we have all these left-wing local governments that are trying to gut their police departments. You’ve seen it in New York and we’re seeing it all over the country. And it is bad news for the communities that need it the most.”
