State of California et al v. Trump et al

Filing 161

Letter from Douglas N. Letter, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives . (Letter, Douglas) (Filed on 5/21/2019)

DOUGLAS N. LETTER

KRISTIN A. SHAPIRO

GENERAL COUNSEL

ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL

TODD B. TATELMAN
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL

MEGAN BARBERO
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

JOSEPHINE MORSE
ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

219 CANNON HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6532
[phone]
FAX: [phone]

BROOKS M. HANNER
ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL

SARAH E. CLOUSE
ATTORNEY

May 21, 2019
VIA CM/ECF
Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.
United States District Judge
Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building
& United States Courthouse
1301 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Re:

California et al. v. Trump et al. (Case No. 19-872) & Sierra Club et al. v. Trump
et al. (Case No. 19-892)

Dear Judge Gilliam:
I write on behalf of the U.S. House of Representatives with regard to a question posed by
the Court at the May 17, 2019, hearing in the above-captioned cases. At the hearing, the Court
noted that in House v. Mnuchin et al. (D.D.C. Case No. 19-969), the House’s preliminary
injunction application stated that “[b]ased on information provided to Congress by the
Administration, it appears that [U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP)] has constructed less
than 1 mile of fencing” with the $1.571 billion that Congress appropriated for such construction
for fiscal year 2018. House Mot. for Prelim. Inj. at 6; see also Tr. at 16. The Court asked
whether there was “a public record” citation for this proposition or whether the House could
explain the basis for the proposition. Tr. at 16. Undersigned counsel promised to “check on that
and get the specific reference for [the Court].” Id. at 17.
To the House’s knowledge, there is no public record citation for the proposition. The
House’s representation was “[b]ased on information provided to Congress by the
Administration” on the status of its construction efforts as of February 28, 2019. House Mot. for
Prelim. Inj. at 6. The Administration recently provided updated information to Congress on the
status of its efforts as of April 30, 2019. Based on that updated information, it appears that CBP
has now constructed 1.7 miles of fencing with its fiscal year 2018 funding.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Douglas N. Letter
DOUGLAS N. LETTER (D.C. Bar No. 2533492)
General Counsel
TODD B. TATELMAN (VA Bar No. 66008)
Deputy General Counsel
MEGAN BARBERO (MA Bar No. 668854)
Associate General Counsel
JOSEPHINE MORSE (D.C. Bar No. 1531317)
Associate General Counsel
KRISTIN A. SHAPIRO (D.C. Bar No. 1007010)
Assistant General Counsel
BROOKS M. HANNER (D.C. Bar No. 1005346)
Assistant General Counsel
OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
219 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]
Counsel for Plaintiff the United States House of
Representatives
May 21, 2019

cc:

All counsel who have appeared in this case (via ECF)