By Lawrence Hurley, Reuters — Wednesday 3 February 2021
The US Supreme Court cancelled upcoming scheduled arguments in appeals defending Trump’s funding of the US-Mexico border wall and his “remain in Mexico” asylum policy, after the Biden administration asked the justices to remove them from the calendar. Biden’s administration has already announced plans to discontinue wall construction and suspend the asylum program, potentially making the cases moot. The border wall case was scheduled for 22 February, and the asylum policy case for 1 March. Trump in 2019 had redirected $2.5 billion from military counter-narcotics programs for border wall construction. Biden issued a proclamation on his first day in office ordering a freeze on border wall projects.