The Rio Grande International Study Center learned today that it will be represented by Earthjustice — the nation’s largest non-profit environmental law organization — in a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for the proposed border wall.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 130 miles of the wall will be built through Zapata and Webb counties, 55 miles of which will go through the urban center of Laredo.
Earthjustice, which is staffed by more than 300 attorneys across the U.S., provides its clients with legal services that are free of charge. Its areas of focus are threefold — natural spaces and wildlife; healthy communities; and clean energy and a healthy climate.
According to the non-profit’s website, it has filed suits for environmental, community, labor, health, and civil rights groups to defend life-saving health and environmental protections from Trump’s deregulatory actions.
Among Earthjustice’s clients are AFL-CIO, American Rivers, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, RiverKeeper, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Farm Workers of America, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the residents of Flint, Michigan regarding lead-tainted drinking water.
Earthjustice has filed 121 lawsuits against the Trump administration.
To read about Earthjustice, go to earthjustice.org
