Texas Landowners First to Challenge Trump's National Emergency Plan

[Sighlass]

Sorry landowners, but just because some drug lord in Mexico promises you $XX amount of money to keep your section flowing with his drugs (and human flesh) does not mean the rest of us just deal with your enabling. Seize the land, pay them a fair price and eminent domain that fence down the line.

[Chosen Daughter]

Sorry landowners, but just because some drug lord in Mexico promises you $XX amount of money to keep your section flowing with his drugs (and human flesh) does not mean the rest of us just deal with your enabling. Seize the land, pay them a fair price and eminent domain that fence down the line.

  

[Formerly Once-Ler]

@Once-Ler

Your private property is not your private property.  Trump owns your private property.  He knows imminent domain likely better than anyone in the USA.  In the past, he has said he "loves" imminent domain because he uses it to get land on which to build.  In his mind, all land is his.

Yesterday, I heard a Texas woman land owner speak, whose house, when they take her land, will be FIVE feet from the wall.  The government has already been to see her to tell her they are taking the land. She has never seen an illegal in her area; never seen anyone come out of the water where her house is.  Her father and another family member are law enforcement officers so, to me, that makes her credible in what she says - she is not a nut case.  She said if she saw any illegal coming out of the river or around her house, she could call them and she has never had to do that.

I would think she is going to have to move, give up all her land as no one would want that property now, 5 feet from the wall.  Another Trump "win".

This new "conservatism" looks a lot like the old "fascism" to me.   I'm sure we will hear more about this woman if what she says is true.  That is a slam dunk lead on a slow news day.   It's aggravating because it seems like this woman is in an area no illegals cross at.  She must be disillusioned by a country that ignores 650 miles of barrier already built on the southern border and none (? I dunno) on the northern border...or is it too cold for terrorist?  No barriers to obscure the view and playtime activities of beach side property owners on our coasts.  Once she had an unobstructed view of the stars in her back yard.  Now the spotlights of a dozen street lamps knife through her shutters...all for the vanity of President Donald J Trump.

All that wall construction will help cover the noise of the next El Chapo's tunnels. 

“They say a wall is medieval, well so is a wheel. A wheel is older than a wall. And I looked at every single car out there… and I said, do they all have wheels? Yes. Oh, I thought it was medieval. The wheel is older than the wall, you know that? There are some things that work. You know what? A wheel works and a wall works.”  - President Trump...out loud and in front of people

A tunnel is "medieval" (perhaps even pre-medieval) and they work.   

I hope terrorists are not even more cunning and decide to smuggle or enter through legal ports of entry like 9-11, because all the news media and our government is telling me the majority of illegals, drugs, weapons, and terrorists are coming through legal ports of entry...except Trump.  I don't know who to trust.  The senile little rich kid, or everyone else?
I'm a little drinking.  I hope this make sense and I didn't insult you on accident.

[TomSea]

This new "conservatism" looks a lot like the old "fascism" to me.   I'm sure we will hear more about this woman if what she says is true.  That is a slam dunk lead on a slow news day.   It's aggravating because it seems like this woman is in an area no illegals cross at.  She must be disillusioned by a country that ignores 650 miles of barrier already built on the southern border and none (? I dunno) on the northern border...or is it too cold for terrorist?  No barriers to obscure the view and playtime activities of beach side property owners on our coasts.  Once she had an unobstructed view of the stars in her back yard.  Now the spotlights of a dozen street lamps knife through her shutters...all for the vanity of President Donald J Trump.

All that wall construction will help cover the noise of the next El Chapo's tunnels. 
A tunnel is "medieval" (perhaps even pre-medieval) and they work.   

I hope terrorists are not even more cunning and decide to smuggle or enter through legal ports of entry like 9-11, because all the news media and our government is telling me the majority of illegals, drugs, weapons, and terrorists are coming through legal ports of entry...except Trump.  I don't know who to trust.  The senile little rich kid, or everyone else?
I'm a little drinking.  I hope this make sense and I didn't insult you on accident.

You find fault with Trump?

Anti-semitism and calls for infanticide are growing within the Democrat party, ISIS grew under the Democrats but always be upset about Trump? Okay.

And a lot of fentanyl comes through, that kills Americans and if it all comes through the ports of entry, then, they should search every single car but they don't because a lot of it comes in other ways.

[montanajoe]

Sorry landowners, but just because some drug lord in Mexico promises you $XX amount of money to keep your section flowing with his drugs (and human flesh) does not mean the rest of us just deal with your enabling. Seize the land, pay them a fair price and eminent domain that fence down the line.

Say what?

Disrespect for property rights by the crown was probably the uniting factor in the American Revolution. Don't think that sentiment has changed much today..

[Formerly Once-Ler]

You find fault with Trump?

Anti-semitism and calls for infanticide are growing within the Democrat party, ISIS grew under the Democrats but always be upset about Trump? Okay.

I agree.  The rats are terrible.

And a lot of fentanyl comes through, that kills Americans and if it all comes through the ports of entry, then, they should search every single car but they don't because a lot of it comes in other ways.

I don't know the answers @TomSea .  I just don't think a Wall is the effective answer.  I'm fine with the 650 miles of barriers we have already built.  I can live with another 55 miles if it ever gets built.  It just ain't going to change the paradigm.   The drugs, illegal workers, and sex slaves still come in some place else because the demand remains and our border patrol spends it's time hunting janitors, cooks, landscapers, and students.

[truth_seeker]

@truth_seeker, today's email:

Thanks much

@Sanguine

[kevindavis007]

Hopefully, this will be resolved in Mr. Trump's favor in the courts.

In the meantime, GET BUSY BUILDING.

NO citizen has the right, Constitutional or otherwise, to stand in the way of actions necessary to secure the integrity of the borders and the security of the United States.

Eminent domain does not provide a citizen with the means to stop the taking of property necessary to do so. It DOES provide for proper compensation of the "taken property".

To hell with private property right?

[edpc]

Eminent domain does not provide a citizen with the means to stop the taking of property necessary to do so. It DOES provide for proper compensation of the "taken property".

Always nice to have the Souter perspective.

[kevindavis007]

Always nice to have the Souter perspective.

Imagine if Obama was doing this.

[Bigun]

Imagine if Obama was doing this.

I tried and tried to imagine that bastard doing something...anything... positive but I'm not an ISIS commander or an Iranian Mullah so it was impossible!

[Mesaclone]

To hell with private property right?

The constitution itself authorizes the use of Eminent Domain for public use:
"...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
And the implementation of Eminent Domain has a long history in English Common Law.
So Private Property rights are as they have always been under our constitution and President Trump's actions in no way harm that right...on the contrary, his actions are made to protect private property rights of property owners across the nation by securing our border from this invasion of illegal immigrants.


Eminent domain is not new and Trump is not the first President to use it. This nation's history is replete with examples, and it was never the Founding Father's intention that ownership rights should prevent the nation from defending itself or building critical infrastructure. Do you want the freeway system to disappear and revert to the 1940's? Do you believe our border should be fully opened and all walls...many of which were built through the use of Eminent Domain...be torn down? How would YOU secure the border, short of bloodshed, without the use of walls/ports of entry/patrolling...all of which require the use of Eminent Domain?

I love the folks who sit on their couch with ZERO solutions to real problems...yet bitch about anything that IS done to secure the nation from this kind of border invasion.

So, what IS your solution?

[edpc]

Imagine if Obama was doing this.

We’ve already heard about the dangers of executive overreach from this president.

"If President Obama is allowed to do what he did on DACA, then I'm allowed to do whatever I want to do on things that, you know, probably a president ... doesn't have the right to do," he added.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-i-have-scary-amount-of-power-if-supreme-court-says-daca-cant-be-dismantled

The case of Kelo, involving Souter, was a different type of eminent domain. The reason I mentioned him was because it was a bad decision from a republican appointed judge. As it stands, the declaration decision will hinge upon Roberts, unless another judge, like Ginsburg, creates a vacancy during what is likely to be a drawn out process.

[Emjay]

All of em? Or just a few deranged Beto supporters?

Most of Texas landowners are cheering the effort.  These particular ones were already hand picked and primed in advance in case Trump declared the emergency.

They are only good for publicity.  This isn't a land grab.  It's national defense.

[sneakypete]

@Once-Ler

 

Yesterday, I heard a Texas woman land owner speak, whose house, when they take her land, will be FIVE feet from the wall.  The government has already been to see her to tell her they are taking the land. She has never seen an illegal in her area; never seen anyone come out of the water where her house is.

@Victoria33

She is either a liar or blind.

Her father and another family member are law enforcement officers so, to me, that makes her credible in what she says - she is not a nut case.

Do you SERIOUSLY think that cops don't lie?

 

She said if she saw any illegal coming out of the river or around her house, she could call them and she has never had to do that.

What this really means is she is getting paid to look the other way.

I would think she is going to have to move, give up all her land as no one would want that property now, 5 feet from the wall.  Another Trump "win".

Yes,she is going to  have to move. That's what Imminent Domain means. The government is going to seize her property for government use,and PAY HER FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR IT.

Granted,she is going to lose the money she gets paid each month to look the other way,and maybe sometimes make a phone call to warm couriers if were the feds are,but no scam lasts forever.

[sneakypete]

There currently is no such thing in Texas as privately owned real estate. There is only the right to keep using some if you keep paying the rent.

@Bigun

I've got bad news for you. It's that way everywhere. Stop paying your property taxes and find out.

[Elderberry]

Declaring a national emergency to fund Trump's border wall may be what finally kills the project

Texas landowners would have few legal options if Congress funded the wall. But if Trump goes around them, lawyers will have a field day.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/declaring-national-emergency-fund-trump-s-border-wall-may-be-ncna966586

Somewhat lost in the ongoing political debate surrounding the construction of a wall along the entirety of our southern border are the legal and practical implications of President Trump’s proposal: It will require taking thousands of acres of property needed for the project from private landowners.

Were Congress to pass legislation to implement and fund the border wall, those landowners would be left with few options to challenge the project. But a rogue decision to secure funding through executive fiat (like a declaration of national emergency) could ironically give landowners the ability to challenge the project on grounds that were previously unavailable.

To first understand why Texas landowners would bear the brunt of any decision to build a wall, and how they could use an emergency order against the administration, it’s important to know the history of efforts to secure the southern border. The previous iteration of border security, the 2006 border fence project under former President George W. Bush, resulted in over 300 eminent domain cases, 60 to 70 of which remain open today.

Why, though, were the federal government’s efforts focused on Texas in the first place? In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt reserved a 60-foot-wide swath along the southern border of California and what is now Arizona and New Mexico to keep the land “free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico.” Because of the Roosevelt Reservation, the federal government’s condemnation of land for the 2006 border fence project occurred mostly in Texas, where private ownership of land dates back to the Spanish land grants of the 1700s.

The same would be true with President Trump’s proposed wall.

Certainly, the federal government has the broad power to take private property through its exercise of eminent domain; the authority of the federal government to appropriate property for public uses has been held “essential to its independent existence and perpetuity,” and the federal government has the power to condemn property “whenever it is necessary or appropriate to use the land in the execution of any of the powers granted to it by the constitution.”

While the border wall funding issue may seem like a Gordian knot, the president is not Alexander, and his emergency order is not a sword — or, if it is, it’s a sword that creates knots instead of cutting them. By attempting to bypass Congress through executive order, President Trump will risk losing the protections and processes that made the project nominally viable.

More at link above.

[austingirl]

Even I believe, Representative Will Hurd is saying, there will be thousands of lawsuits if plans for the border wall go on. I was talking to someone tonight about this.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/02/15/texans-react-trumps-border-wall-emergency-rep-will-hurd-warns-peopleare-going-sue

That kind of leaves a lot of us stumped, suing?  Everyone here is mostly gung ho on the wall.

Will Hurd, Robert Francis O'Rourke's good buddy.

[roamer_1]

Yes,she is going to  have to move. That's what Imminent Domain means. The government is going to seize her property for government use,and PAY HER FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR IT.

I have been in on these deals before @sneakypete , and she may well have a legitimate bitch.

So the fed comes in and takes a corridor through your property, and splits your property down the middle... Now the half beyond the barrier is useless to you. And that's the half with the water on it.

And to make matters worse, the Fed wants to save money, so the portion they take by eminent domain, is all range, at an undeveloped range price. Now your place just got cut in half, you can't water your cattle, and there's a barrier in your back yard fifty feet off your porch.

You say sell and get out, well who is going to buy into that? And how do you get enough out of the proceeds to satisfy the bank?



 

[Emjay]

The constitution itself authorizes the use of Eminent Domain for public use:
"...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
And the implementation of Eminent Domain has a long history in English Common Law.
So Private Property rights are as they have always been under our constitution and President Trump's actions in no way harm that right...on the contrary, his actions are made to protect private property rights of property owners across the nation by securing our border from this invasion of illegal immigrants.


Eminent domain is not new and Trump is not the first President to use it. This nation's history is replete with examples, and it was never the Founding Father's intention that ownership rights should prevent the nation from defending itself or building critical infrastructure. Do you want the freeway system to disappear and revert to the 1940's? Do you believe our border should be fully opened and all walls...many of which were built through the use of Eminent Domain...be torn down? How would YOU secure the border, short of bloodshed, without the use of walls/ports of entry/patrolling...all of which require the use of Eminent Domain?

I love the folks who sit on their couch with ZERO solutions to real problems...yet bitch about anything that IS done to secure the nation from this kind of border invasion.

So, what IS your solution?

@Mesaclone   It's pretty obvious that the nay-sayers around here have only one solution and that is to nitpick everything that Trump is trying to do to protect our country.

Fortunately, those people will ultimately have no say in the matter.  Trump has broken no new ground in his declaration and it is far worthier a cause than prompted many previous presidential edicts.

[edpc]

Tribe in neighboring AZ will probably sue, as well.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-border-wall-challenge-indian-reservation-arizona/

[Sanguine]

I have been in on these deals before @sneakypete , and she may well have a legitimate bitch.

So the fed comes in and takes a corridor through your property, and splits your property down the middle... Now the half beyond the barrier is useless to you. And that's the half with the water on it.

And to make matters worse, the Fed wants to save money, so the portion they take by eminent domain, is all range, at an undeveloped range price. Now your place just got cut in half, you can't water your cattle, and there's a barrier in your back yard fifty feet off your porch.

You say sell and get out, well who is going to buy into that? And how do you get enough out of the proceeds to satisfy the bank?

Just addressing the "water the cattle issue".  This is frequently brought up as an issue.  As someone who is more than passingly aware of both cows and this environment, you don't want your cows to have to walk a long way to get water, because they can't put on weight as quickly.  Not much grazing land is right next to the river, and the river is polluted and almost dry much of the year.  Cows are more frequently watered from tanks, filled by windmills or electric pumps. 

[Emjay]

Sorry landowners, but just because some drug lord in Mexico promises you $XX amount of money to keep your section flowing with his drugs (and human flesh) does not mean the rest of us just deal with your enabling. Seize the land, pay them a fair price and eminent domain that fence down the line.

That will happen @Sighlass and the vast majority of the landowners in Texas will gladly cede a portion of their land for a wall; in fact, they would probably give it away but they will be compensated.

[Emjay]

Declaring a national emergency to fund Trump's border wall may be what finally kills the project

Texas landowners would have few legal options if Congress funded the wall. But if Trump goes around them, lawyers will have a field day.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/declaring-national-emergency-fund-trump-s-border-wall-may-be-ncna966586
More at link above.

Land has been taken before for roads, airports and various vital infrastructure.  This current takeover  is a cause that is far more important to the national interest and it is popular with the majority of Americans.

This is not something new and strange.  I worked in an office that was on land which was taken over by the expansion of DFW Airport.  Numerous homeowners lost their land and homes but were well-compensated for it.

What is it with people who seem determined to create imaginary roadblocks to thwart Trump's plan?

[Sanguine]

Land has been taken before for roads, airports and various vital infrastructure.  This current takeover  is a cause that is far more important to the national interest and it is popular with the majority of Americans.

This is not something new and strange.  I worked in an office that was on land which was taken over by the expansion of DFW Airport.  Numerous homeowners lost their land and homes but were well-compensated for it.

What is it with people who seem determined to create imaginary roadblocks to thwart Trump's plan?

What IS new and strange is this environment we now live in.  One where wrong is right and up is down, and illegal aliens should be granted the same rights as US citizens, and where western culture must be obliterated and replaced.