Posted on 01/09/2008 6:11:56 PM PST by mdittmar
The government is readying 102 court cases against landowners in Arizona, California and Texas for blocking efforts to select sites for a fence along the Mexican border, a Homeland Security Department official said Wednesday.
With the lawsuits expected soon, the legal action would mark an escalation in the clash between the government and the property owners. The Bush administration wants to build 370 miles of fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers by the end of the year.
A number of property owners have granted the government access to their land. But others have refused. The agency sent letters to 135 of them last month, warning they had 30 days to comply or face court action.
Thirty-three complied. The deadline for many of the owners passed on Monday or should expire this week for others.
Resistance is most intense in Texas, which accounts for 71 cases, while there are 20 against California landowners and 11 in Arizona, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said.
The government may not need all the properties for the project. Officials need to determine which to buy or seize through eminent domain, or whether alternatives such as lighting, more Border Patrol agents or technology would work better in those areas.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has made clear there is a limit to how long federal officials will wait for access to the land. He told reporters last month that this process is "not open for endless talk."
"The door is still open to talk if people want to engage with us, if they have some alternative ideas. But it's not open for endless talk. We do need to get moving on this proposition," he said at a news conference Dec. 7.
Some opponents of the fence say the government is violating the rights of indigenous landowners, descendants of American Indians and others who claim ancestral rights to the land or whose families were awarded property through Spanish land grants.
One holdout, Eloisa Garcia Tamez, 72, owns three acres in El Calaboz, Texas, about 12 miles west of Brownsville, a city at the state's southernmost tip. Tamez said her property was part of a Spanish land grant and her grandfather was Lipan Apache, a tribe not officially recognized by Washington but known to have existed in Texas and Mexico.
"I'm waiting for whatever they've got coming and I'm not going to sign. I'm not," said Tamez, director of the master of science and nursing program at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Peter Schey, executive director of The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Los Angeles, told Chertoff in a letter Monday that Tamez will take court action to protect her rights.
More than 250 border landowners in Texas have given the government access to property for the fence over the past year. Their willingness reflects "they recognize the importance of border security, not only for their community but for the entirety of the country," Knocke said.
A 2006 law signed by President Bush mandates a 700-mile fence along the border. A government spending bill that Bush signed last month gave Chertoff leeway in deciding whether the 700 miles of fencing is needed and required he consult with local, state and federal officials before construction.
Oh really?
>A 2006 law signed by President Bush mandates a 700-mile fence along the border
Anyone else see the direct contradiction in the two above laws?
There is no longer any legal mandate at all if a government hack can decide what is needed and what is not.
This fence is probably doomed.
This is the greatest thing I have heard today. Wonderful news. Any American blocking this fence should be held up to public ridicule. But in the end they lose real bad to the condemnation power of the greater good. Good job Bush Administration. 102 people need to go get lawyers and pay them huge bucks but they will be crushed by the Federal Court system. THE FENCE IS THE LAW!!!
Just turn Eloisa’s land into an Indian casino with one way entry doors from the US and exit doors into mexico.
Good job President Bush. Get that sucker completed before someone else becomes pres.
Wonder how they would feel if the fence was on the other side of their land - ie they are left on the Mexico side with no direct access to the USA mainland? I bet the threat would have them singing another tune!
We’re screwed, and we should admit it and just learn Spanish.
This is what eminent domain is for.
Really? I'll believe it when I see it (up and actually functioning).
What I’s like to see is to let some of these land owners alone, just build UP TO their property from each side, leaving their property as a ‘freeway for illegals.
After a few dozen shoot-outs between coyotes and drug dealers, a few break-ins, a life or two threatened, there might be a change in heart.
And the easement on an International Border is how much?
What I’s like to see is to let some of these land owners alone, just build UP TO their property from each side, leaving their property as a ‘freeway for illegals.
That would be an easy thing to do here. Three acres isn’t a lot of property in length or width... An acre is basically 208’ X 208’.... So no matter how you layout her three acres it won’t cover a lot of footage in either direction.
1) If illegals fight officers of the law, or use any weapon, allow the officers to respond with lethal force. As of now, they are required to act like pansies when illegals fire weapons across the border.
2) Allow illegals to sue employers who pay them less than minimum wage. [This is Ann Coulter's idea.] The lawsuits alone would bankrupt the employers who exploit them. Add this on to employer penalties for hiring illegals. There would be zero advantage to hiring illegals, and employers would hire ordinary Americans.
3) A tamper-proof national identity card with biometrics. Sorry, ACLU, but this is your fault for defending the "rights" of illegals for 40 years.
Of course, do away with all the other bullsh-t things like citizenship to illegal babies, free education and medical, etc. But if 1) and 2) were implemented you would see millions of illegals high-tailing it home.
I'd even donate money for the bus that drives them to the border.
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