Border Wall Battle Not Over Yet
April 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
For almost a year, Dr. Eloisa Tamez has been fighting Homeland Security’s construction of an 18-foot wall in her back yard. The Observer wrote about her struggle in our Holes in the Wall story and in previous blogs. For several weeks it seemed she had a compelling case that might at least force Homeland Security to negotiate a fair market value for her property. Last week, that came to an end when Judge Andrew Hanen, a U.S. District Court judge in Brownsville, ruled in favor of Homeland Security.
In a 13-page court document, Hanen wrote that each side found the other party’s offer unreasonable. “This is certainly a case where the parties are “unable to agree on a reasonable price.” See 8 U.S.C. 1103 (b)(3). At such an impasse, 1103 does not require this Court to order further futile negotiations, but rather permits the Government to continue with its condemnation action.”
Dr. Tamez said that she would continue to fight the construction of a border wall on her property in El Calaboz, outside of Brownsville. She is currently researching her next move with her lawyer Peter Schey. “This is not going to stop here,” she vowed after the Judge’s decision.
Tamez is one of the last of the Spanish land grant heirs along the Texas-Mexico border. Homeland Security would like the build the wall on land that was granted to her ancestors by the King of Spain in the 18th century. The wall would divide and destroy the three acres she inherited and planned to pass on to her children and grandchildren.
“Where are the constitutional rights that protect me?,” she said. “I don’t feel the government has followed our Constitution.”
Two congressional subcommittees of the House Natural Resource Committee will be holding a joint hearing on the border wall in Brownsville on April 28th. Tamez says she plans to attend. It will be held at the University of Texas at Brownsville. “Our congressional leaders have been absent and the landowners feel like we have been fighting this battle against the government on our own,” says Tamez.
The hearing will center around Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva’s Borderlands Conservation and Security Act, which would force Homeland Security to negotiate with landowners and would require the agency to follow federal laws when constructing the wall. The bill has been languishing in a subcommittee since last summer, however.
Since Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived 36 federal land and environmental laws two weeks ago, the bill has gained more co-sponsors but it still lacks Republican support.
The bill also repeals the section of the REAL ID act which gave Chertoff the authority to waive environmental, labor, and other laws to construct the border wall.
Grijalva told the Rio Grande Guardian in a story Monday that “The Real ID Act is an overreach, constitutionally. What we are asking for is to introduce another constitutional right – due process,” he said. “We are not saying you cannot have national security on the border. Let’s have a process whereby the public has some input. You must have consultation, you must have NEPA and the environmental assessments and you must look for alternatives.”
Tamez says that Congressional leaders outside of Texas have done more for border residents in her community than local congressional leaders. “We want our congressional leaders to know what this border wall will cost for us,” she says. “Congressman Bennie Thompson and Raul Grijalva have been more visible on this than our own Representatives.”
April 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Melissa,
You have been covering this issue with a thoroughness and human-ness that most of the other state and national media has simply failed to do. As a fellow traveler, I can say it is deeply appreciated.