Border Wars Trump Style

[Elderberry]

Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Houghton, P.C. Eminent Domain Blog by Michael Rikon 6/24/20

https://eminent-domain-blog.com/border-wars-trump-style/

The U.S. has actively been pursuing the wall between the United States and Mexico.  And, no, Mexico is not paying for it.  Since the month of March, the government has filed 24 new condemnation cases to acquire private property from South Texas landowners which is more than were filed in the preceding eight months.  All this despite the pandemic.

There are currently 657 miles of primary barriers and 50 miles of secondary barriers along the 2000-mile border.

Remember that the vast majority of the barriers were constructed prior to the Trump presidency.

Trump declared a state of emergency in February 2019 which was extended in February 2020, with the goal of constructing 400 miles by the end of 2020.  He referred to the coronavirus as another justification for this wall, “we must understand that border security is also health security.”  While Trump has built less than 200 miles of wall, his administration has brought 78 lawsuits against landowners on the border, 30 of them this year.

Recently, Trump traveled to the southern edge of Arizona to highlight completion of his 200 miles.  According to the Homeland Security’s June 19, 2020 status report on the wall, only about “three miles of new border wall system [have been] constructed in locations where no barriers previously existed.”  So far the Trump administration has spent $15 billion on the project.  Mexico has not contributed anything.  That’s a lot of money for three miles of a “big beautiful wall.”

[Elderberry]

Trump Admin Files Lawsuit Against ‘5,934 Acres of Land, More or Less’ in Order to Build the Wall

Law and Crime by Colin Kalmbacher Jun 23rd, 2020

https://lawandcrime.com/immigration/to-build-the-wall-trump-admin-files-lawsuit-against-5934-acres-of-land-more-or-less/

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against several thousand acres of land in South Texas on Monday in an effort to move forward with construction of the controversial and long-stalled border wall.

Submitted on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the lawsuit names “5,934 acres of land, more or less” in Hidalgo County as well as Mary Francis Chupick Bennett as the defendants in the eminent domain action.

Presented as a complaint in condemnation, the lawsuit is a typical Department of Justice (DHS) filing used to condemn private property in order for the government to forcibly gain control, access and title when the landowner refuses to sell the real estate in question.

Declarations of takings were originally permitted and limited by the Bill of Rights via the Fifth Amendment and later further elaborated upon via the Federal Declaration of Taking Act, both which provide that any such taking is conditioned on the government providing “just compensation” for the property sought by the state.

The “just compensation” outlined in the proposal looks to be a decided bargain for the federal government. For the nearly 6,000 acre plat, the DOJ is suggesting the landowners are only entitled to $113,202. That equates to roughly $19.08 per acre.

The average market value of rural acreage in Texas is just shy of $3,000 per acre, according to Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center. The government clearly believes they are entitled to an exponential discount on the would-be land grab.

More at link.