Access to private land may be the tallest barrier standing between the U.S. president and his election promise
PROGRESO, Texas — Two days after giving the federal government his signature, Richard Drawe paused with his wife and mother on a levee that his family has owned for nearly a century to watch the cranes and roseate spoonbills.
The White House is hoping more landowners along the border will make the same decision — and help President Donald Trump deliver on his campaign promise to build 450 miles of new border wall by 2021. Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, raised doubts about meeting the administration’s deadline.
They can voluntarily allow the authorities to access and survey their land and, if officials decide they want it, accept the government’s offer. Or they can be taken to court where they can argue for higher compensation. “They’re going to acquire the land for their wall, whether you negotiate with them upfront or they end up filing a lawsuit and taking it by a declaration of taking,” said Roy Brandys, an attorney specializing in eminent domain who represented Drawe.
“Forget deplorable Americans,” she said. “You’re disposable Americans if you happen to be on the south side of the wall.” Officials with the Border Patrol said they are similarly not worried about migrants using power tools to cut through the wall. Despite Trump’s boast of a “virtually impenetrable” barrier, Customs and Border Protection officials know full well that breaches are coming and have lined up repair money from a $107 million infrastructure fund.
In the past three months, agents have found migrants hiding in a tractor-trailer in Texas and others hiding in furniture and washing machines in San Diego.
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