President-elect Donald Trump has sued to block the Biden administration from promoting unused fabric for the border wall.

On Wednesday, Trump filed an amicus brief in the Southern District of Texas, urging a federal judge to halt the sale of surplus materials initially designated for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The case centers on allegations that federal officials are conducting “fire sales” of unused border wall materials, potentially undermining Trump’s plans to resume border wall construction.

Newsweek has reached out to the Biden-Harris leadership for comment via email.

Reports emerged that fabric intended for the wall had been disposed of in Arizona and scheduled to be auctioned, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch defender of the barrier, is preparing to return to the White House to move forward on his strict immigration agenda.

Video footage obtained by The Daily Wire shows border wall panels being transported near Tucson, Texas, to a government surplus auction site, GovPlanet.

In 2023, Congress directed President Joe Biden’s administration to remove unused border wall fabrics under the National Defense Authorization Act.

The law allows those fabrics to be sold or donated to southern border states, as long as they are used to fix existing barriers and build new ones.

The amicus brief accuses the Biden administration of violating federal law by removing materials appropriated by Congress for border security. Trump’s filing also calls for a judicial review to determine whether the sales violated legal mandates.

The brief, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, demands a prompt halt to sales and a thorough investigation of management’s actions. It argues that the reported sales violate a congressional mandate to build border barriers, flout an existing court order and may simply save the new Trump administration from eroding its border security agenda.

The document seen by Newsweek states: “President Trump is deeply troubled by recent reports that officials in the Biden Administration have been selling off border-wall materials at rock-bottom prices, especially during this lame-duck period.

“On December 17, 2024, President Trump said he had obtained data that Biden’s leadership was promoting border wall fabrics at “five cents on the dollar” and that it was “almost a criminal act. “

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told Newsweek, “President Trump has filed an amicus brief in the Southern District of Texas requesting that a highly reputable federal court render a judgment without delay to prevent the Biden administration’s ‘liquidation sale’ of border wall fabrics at rock-bottom prices and ordered an investigation.

“Any attempt by Biden officials to obstruct President Trump’s plan to build the border wall is unlawful, unconstitutional, and possibly criminal, as our brief argues.

“Biden’s leadership has a blatant record of violating the law, specifically in its catastrophic open borders policy, so the courts deserve to view its moves here with particular skepticism. President Trump will not be deterred from building the wall, to protect our border and make America wonderful again. “

Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in a post about “using those symptoms for what they were meant for (protecting our nation’s borders). “This is an elegant transition of force as the existing administration claimed. »

Biden halted construction of the border wall when he took office in 2021. His predecessor and future successor, Trump, made the wall a cornerstone of his immigration policy. He has promised to restart his structure upon his return in January.

With the incoming administration set to take power, it is expected that construction will resume on the flagship policy of Trump’s first administration.

The president-elect has promised to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and crack down on illegal migration.

Billal Rahman is a journalist with Live News in London, United Kingdom. He specializes in foreign affairs and American politics. He joined Newsweek in 2024 after leaving The Independent. He covered the British postal scandal and the confrontation between Israel and Hamas. Originally from Glasgow, he studied journalism in Edinburgh and then worked for STV News before moving to London in 2022. Billal can be contacted at b. rahman@newsweek. com.