Trumps Border Wall Sh*t Just Got Real-Texans Receive Notices To Sell Or Have Their Land Taken

[babylonsister]

http://addictinginfo.org/2017/03/15/trumps-border-wall-sht-just-got-real-texans-receive-notices-to-sell-or-have-their-land-taken/

Trump’s Border Wall Sh*t Just Got Real – Texans Receive Notices To Sell Or Have Their Land Taken
By Rika Christensen on March 15, 2017 1:44 am ·


Texas landowners along the U.S.-Mexico border have begun receiving notices from the federal government saying that they’re coming to either buy, or take, parcels of land for Trump’s pointless border wall. According to the Texas Observer, landowners are receiving “Declarations of Taking” notices that offer a price for the piece that the government wants. If the landowners refuse that, then they may see those parts of their property taken via eminent domain.

One landowner, Yvette Salinas, got her notice back in January. She’d been dreading it for a while because of George W. Bush’s focus on a border fence. Under Obama, she’d been able to relax a bit because he focused on patrolling and monitoring the border in ways that didn’t include taking land and building a wall.

Now, with Trump in office, this shit has just gotten real. Whether any of these preparations happened while Obama was still in office or not, it’s Trump who is pushing the wall forward as quickly as he can. It’s one of his focal points, and it will be his government that buys up or takes the land.

The introduction in Salinas’ letter reads like this:

“The United States of America is acquiring property along its border with Mexico in order to construct a fence and related improvements designed to secure the border, as required by the Secure Fence Act of 2006.”

They offered Salinas and her family $2,900 for 1.2 acres of land – the same amount for the same land that the government offered her under George W. Bush years earlier. The tiny community in which she lives—Los Ebanos—lies entirely within the floodplain of the Rio Grande. That land is protected by a treaty with Mexico that forbids the building of structures that could force floodwaters into other communities, and has been an obstacle towards border wall construction.

Under Trump, though, Los Ebanos seems to have become a focal point. The government has already completed surveys and planning for a wall there. Despite increasing problems with costs, the fact that crossings are down, and the fact that Republicans are voicing their discomfort with the idea, Trump keeps hammering the wall as the way to secure the border.

It’s impossibly stupid. People who live along the border prefer the technological surveillance and the presence of the U.S. Border Patrol to a wall because they believe that’s more effective and costs a hell of a lot less. And they don’t have to give up pieces of land that have been in their families for generations for that.

They also know people will still cross whether there’s a wall or not.

Salinas doesn’t want to sell that bit of land but she doesn’t know what to do. The community doesn’t want to allow the wall to be built through there, either, but neither can they afford to have the U.S. government sue them, and they risk having their land taken without compensation if they try to fight.

[greymattermom]

1. Is the wall waterproof?

What will happen if the Rio Grande floods and there is a wall on one side? Does all the floodwater end up in Mexico? Wouldn't that be a bad thing in the long run?

[chelsea0011]

6. I have been asking this question a number of times here at DU....

explain to me how you can build any wall along the Rio Grande River. How?? And you ask about flooding. There are regualtions about building anything in a flood plain.

[ohheckyeah]

37. how do you build one

across all the washes? Where does that water and debris go?

[Ilsa]

30. In many places you can wade across the Rio Grande unless

there's been a heavy rain. I remember the change in nomenclature from "wetbacks" to "wet socks".

[brooklynite]

41. Simple solution

[haele]

49. If the same ACoE contractors or their affilieates that "repaired" the pre-Katrina levy are used....

The "wall" protecting the US from the Rio Grande will fail within 5 years due to flooding and the erosion that flooding will do to the footings on the river side.
Doubt they'll ensure footings will be wide enough or go deep enough to keep a 30' high "wall" up in that area, especially if the thing is only going to be a foot or two wide.
They'll just run an averaged terrain and substrate model for the plans, and figure it would be just like putting together a wall of Legos to keep the turtles out of a typical garden bed - all 2K + miles of wall. After all, it's a line on a map crossing only three or four major types of terrain, right? It costs real money that doesn't exist to model and build every section specific for all the terrain out there...


Y'know, all those big contractors that sub out with KGR and Haliburton all the time. And they always take shortcuts.

Haele

[Initech]

2. Imagine if President Obama had seized people's lands. Jail time!

[Cosmocat]

9. OR, simply tried to enforce federal law?

see, Bundy standoff.

This has been one of the points I have been railing on since this drop dead stupid ass idea got floated by the jackass.

There are a LOT of people who they are going to take their land from for this, MOST of which are "rock ribbed" great patriot republicans.

[world wide wally]

10. Oh yeah?

What about the Jade Helm Invasion, Mr Smarty Pants?

[Motley13]

3. Her name is Salinas, so she is probably screwed

I hope she gets some legal help & fights the pos

[Blue_true]

48. That is what I thought. nt

[FSogol]

4. LOL, that'll be popular in Texas!

[panader0]

5. The "Secure Fence Act of 2006''

So this action is from Bush not Trump?

[hexola]

8. An attempt to deflect blame?

That's the way it looks...

But - also could be an opening for Trump to wiggle out of his biggest campaign promise...?

[Thomas Hurt]

35. as I understand it

there was funding or authority for more fence that was included in this Bush legislation. It was never built.

[uponit7771]

7. This wont fly at all, eminent domain here in Texas is a serious offense ... even if its legal

[TexasBushwhacker]

43. Unless you're building a pipeline

Plenty of people have been forced to sell or lose their land for Keystone and other pipelines.

[yallerdawg]

11. Disputing eminent domain may cost more than the property is worth...

but the land would still have to be purchased at the assessed fair value.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that DHS could acquire Flores’ land through eminent domain without compensation. The government would, in fact, have to provide compensation for the land. The Observer regrets the error.

We don't live in Russia - yet.

[Wounded Bear]

15. Well, in their minds...

drug runners are trafficking across her land. Therefore, it can be seized as property in a drug bust.

Right?

I hope that is

[heaven05]

12. well, those who voted for the 'wall'

got to pay for their stupidity at accepting the conjob given them. Fuck em. The rest I hope start court cases that last at least two years.......four hopefully. Can ACLU do anything to mire down the legality of government takeover of privately owned land? Is 'eminent domain' a done deal? I'm going to have to research this. Hope one of the non-deplorables is doing just that, right now!!!

[Jonny Appleseed]

13. Dun dun dun

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,

And another one bites the dust~

[msanthrope]

52. Brah....takings is a 5th A issue. nt

[WePurrsevere]

55. They'll use 'eminent domain'...

People have had that "attribute of sovereignty" used by the government for a very long time. It's gone before SCOTUS and the gov has won. If anything it's gotten worse since a SCOTUS case in 2005 where property was seized by gov for use by a business.

Anyway, here's more info: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/history-federal-use-eminent-domain

The federal government’s power of eminent domain has long been used in the United States to acquire property for public use. Eminent domain ''appertains to every independent government. It requires no constitutional recognition; it is an attribute of sovereignty.” Boom Co. v. Patterson, 98 U.S. 403, 406 (1879). However, the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stipulates: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Thus, whenever the United States acquires a property through eminent domain, it has a constitutional responsibility to justly compensate the property owner for the fair market value of the property. See Bauman v. Ross, 167 U.S. 548 (1897); Kirby Forest Industries, Inc. v. United States, 467 U.S. 1, 9-10 (1984).

While I logically sort of understand the need for eminent domain it bugs the heck out of me that Trump's going to use it to build a wall that's going to be as useless as tits on a boar hog at stopping people determined to get on this side of it.

[safeinOhio]

14. Make Texas pay for the wall.

[MagickMuffin]

25. Ahhhh NO

Make Trump pay for the wall.

[Equinox Moon]

16. Can the ACLU help?

[Rural_Progressive]

24. That was my first thought

Pretty tough for individuals to fund a legal defense against the Feds.

[Tanuki]

17. Trump's Folly will also cut right through Tohono O'odham sacred land.

They will not go down without a fight.

http://www.npr.org/2017/02/23/516477313/border-wall-would-cut-across-land-sacred-to-native-tribe

...."The proposed border wall between the U.S. and Mexico would run right through Native lands, and tribal leaders in the region say it would desecrate sacred sites.

"Over my dead body will we build a wall," says Verlon Jose, vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation. "It's like me going into your home and saying 'You know what? I believe in order to protect your house we need some adjusting.' And you're going to say, 'Wait a minute, who are you to come into my house and tell me how to protect my home?' " he says.

The Tohono O'odham reservation straddles the U.S.-Mexico border about an hour south of Tucson. Tohono O'odham means people of the desert.

On a recent drive through the Sonoran desert — where rain has made the palo verde trees even greener and the saguaro stand a little taller — Jose points to a cactus plant. He says every living thing has a story and each story comes with a teaching.

"And I always tell people that every stick and stone is sacred. The rocks that you see along the road have meaning. Sometimes you refer to them as 'the grandfathers,' " he says.

The Tohono O'odham people believe their creator lives in the holiest of rocks, Baboquivari Peak; President Trump's wall would cut across this mountain range — as well as sacred burial ground." (more at link)

[catbyte]

31. They're screwed. We always get screwed--especially with this Orange Horror. Treaties mean

nothing to these criminals. Mere words are inadequate to describe the white hot contempt I feel for every fucking Republican in this country. It burns with the heat of a thousand suns. First Dolt 45* screws the Lakota, now the Tohono O'odham people. We're just the canaries in the coal mine. Well, not an actual coal mine because he lied about re-opening them, too.

[Panich52]

42. You should post this on First Amer forum.

[Aviation Pro]

18. January?

Before the walking fuckwit was sworn in? I smell scam.

[Fast Walker 52]

20. good point-- could be a real estate scam

also hard to believe the Trump admin is that organized

[Fast Walker 52]

19. WTF-- who is giving these notices? The wall is insane, whoever is writing these notices is insane

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Even with a wall, you STILL NEED the hi-tech surveillance and presence of Border Patrol. . . . nt

[Mountain Mule]

22. Eminent domain has existed forever

Not sure there's anything those folks in Texas can do, nor the ACLU. If the gov't wants land for some reason, they just take it. This happened to my grandparents back in Kentucky. They had saved, begged, and borrowed the money to buy themselves a nice piece of farmland in Bluegrass Country in order to escape the dead-end that life in the Kentucky Mountains had become. This was back in the thirties and the Feds decided that my grandparents' farm would be the ideal place to situate the Bluegrass Ordinance Depot. My grandparents had no choice but to accept the money for the land (far less than what if was worth) from the gov't and buy a second (smaller) farm. My family is angry about this to this very day. It's one of those stories that gets told down the generations.

The folks in Texas (including Salinas) are screwed if they don't like the deal the government offers them, floodplains be damned.

[TygrBright]

23. Oh, my... Christmas just came for some Texas law firms...

Can you say "class action?"

Let's get a whole shipping container of Orville Redenbacher's best in, this ain't gonna be a short movie....

amusedly,
Bright

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. That's gonna be real popular.

[Lurks Often]

27. Why is the letter to Salinas dated 1/12/17, eight days BEFORE Trump took office?

Link: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-wall-mexico-condemnation-letter

[Panich52]

40. Good question

[iluvtennis]

28. DISGUSTING...SMDH. And the irony, many of these land owners probably voted for this asswipe

[defacto7]

29. The jackboots are on the march..

nt

[Ilsa]

32. Here's a 25 foot rope ladder:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H5S96A/ref=asc_df_B000H5S96A4893594/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B000H5S96A&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167147622449&hvpos=1o6&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14179250035172678535&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010769&hvtargid=pla-125521294155



My guess is that two people could find a way to get it hung at the top with a second standard ladder and some poles.

[mikeysnot]

33. Vote Republican!!!!!!

Oh wait... you did, didn't you....


Texas is responsible for some of the worst politicians, next to SC.

[Vinca]

34. She might as well take the money because she's going to lose the land anyway.

I can't imagine 1.2 acres in a flood plain has much value, but if she disagrees she should have an appraisal done and make a counteroffer. The whole community should pack up and move to a sane state.

[Sunlei]

36. "related improvements" Those are Republicans "for Profit" detention camps for millions of people.

Republicans will hand over billions & billions of OUR Federal money- to "for profit"private prisons to hold men, woman and children refugees & undocumented.

[PsychoBabble]

38. Bet those FREEDOM & CHOICE-loving Texans are gonna love THAT!

Liking Donald better now, Texas?

[Panich52]

39. Item abt floodplain deserves more attn

One negative of the wall often overlooked because of civil rights issues are the environmental & ecological impacts. Many species dependence on survival includes crossing a border they don't know exists.

And I suppose that since Dumpf has already threatened Mexico w/ military force, breaking an environmental treaty is insignificant.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

44. Texans will do what Texans do best

By declaring a second Alamo. 😉

[Feathery Scout]

45. Texan Viewpoint

Texan here.

Trump's attempt to build a wall from edge to edge along the Texas/Mexico border is almost impossible.

The international line is at the center of the Rio Grande River, so yes; private land will need to be taken to build the wall on the Texas side.

For the 1000+ miles of distance along the Texas border; THOUSANDS of landowners will lose their border land to the government. It will take years to untangle those lawsuits.

And many farmlands in the border region have irrigation rights to the Rio Grande River to water their crops. An unbreachable wall will destroy the values of those land areas.

Also, there are natural barriers along the the border. A huge lake that will be difficult to build a wall around.

Big Bend with its cavernous rocky geography.

Of course, some wealthy Republicans own large chunks of this land....such as the Huntsman Family. And since Jon Huntsman is the new Ambassador to Russia, I'm sure he won't mind donating his large borderland tracts...

[lame54]

46. They voted for it...

they should hand it over with a smile

[babylonsister]

50. That's a pretty broad brush you have there. nt

[lame54]

51. extremely broad...

that is the mood i'm in today

everyday we learn more and more of how sleazy these people are and
everyday they spread more sleaze w/o impediment

[babylonsister]

54. Then this is for you, about Texans (though not on border):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028788749

[rgbecker]

47. When and what is the 2nd amendment for if not March, 2017?

Feds coming to take land? Get out your guns Texans!

[jpak]

53. This is making America great!

Suckers

yup

[RadiationTherapy]

56. Some won't try to cross it. Some will try to damage it and maybe even breach it "for fun."

A wall like this, if it becomes an emblem of hate, will be under constant attack from vandals of many different ideologies. Maybe even from both sides (geographically). Then it becomes a money-sink and so on.

I despise this idea - but even if I supported it - I cannot see many other outcomes than: money-sink.

[Squinch]

57. Lol! Now, they wanted that wall, right? Or am I remembering that incorrectly?

[raven mad]

58. Let's Eminent Domain Mar-a-Largo,enough rock in that monstrosity to keep the Trumps INSIDE ...

and the rest of the U.S. outside, laughing.

[Solly Mack]

59. So Trump wants to flood neighborhoods, possibly, and kill people?

If you are willing to overlook the treaty to protect areas from flooding, then you must be OK with the flooding and people possibly dying.

[TexasBushwhacker]

60. I was listening to NPR

They were interviewing people in border communities in the Rio Grande Valley. Most were against the wall. There was p kaaone good old boy who wanted it because his land went all the way to the river banks and he was tired of "illegals" coming across his property. The only thing I could think is that it's HIS responsibility to secure his property, not the US taxpayer.

Aside from farmers and ranchers worried that they won't be able to access the river to use the water. They are also worried that the wall will restrict the flow of the river and cause flooding.

[Cha]

61. trump voters? wow.. what a shit fest FUBAR.