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Eloisa Tamez of El Calaboz, Texas, walks along the border wall in her garden. She sued the government for having searched her land and for the compensation she had received for the land needed for the construction of a border wall.
Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
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Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
Eloisa Tamez of El Calaboz, Texas, walks along the border wall in her garden. She sued the government for having searched her land and for the compensation she had received for the land needed for the construction of a border wall.
Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
President Trump vetoed last week a congressional measure to block his national emergency declaration. The next battle around this urgent declaration will likely take place in the courts.
Meanwhile, planning for the extension of the border wall is already underway in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
More than 570 landowners in two counties, Hidalgo and Starr, have received letters of access from the government asking them to control their land to determine the possibility of building a border wall.
Eloisa Tamez lives in El Calaboz, a small town outside Brownsville, Texas. In 2007, she received a phone call that she described as a life-changing.
"Two border police officers have informed me that" I knew my property was on the way to the planned construction of the border wall, "Tamez said." I told them I did not know. "
The government wanted to get permission to access her land to survey it, but she refused. So she appeared in court, where her case dragged on for months, but eventually she lost her case.
"In the 24 hours that followed the order given, they built it," said Tamez, referring to the wall that is now behind his property.
Then the battle for compensation came.
The government initially misled her, she said, so she went to court.
"The settlement I got, which was $ 56,000," said Tamez. "I converted some of that into scholarships for nursing students."
Tamez said that she did not want money and just wanted her land, without a wall.
Tamez's experiences with the government at the time are similar to those experienced by other owners: they fought, they lost, the wall was built.
It seems now that these legal skirmishes will start again.
Efrén Olivares, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project's Racial and Economic Justice Program, said this time it would appear that more and more people will be affected, but hopes that more residents will now know their rights.
"What happened last time (…) a lot of people did not know that they were not obliged to accept the first offer, so they signed without knowing that they were giving up their rights, "said Olivares.
Olivares said landowners in the Rio Grande Valley should know that courts can weigh on topographic surveys and compensation amounts.
As part of this latest effort to extend the wall, Congress asked the federal government to meet with local officials to discuss the design and alignment of the border fence.
In Starr County, Rome Mayor Roberto Salinas said he met with local border patrol officials three weeks ago to try to negotiate on behalf of his community.
"Right now, what is planned below the city center is an 18-foot steel fence," said Mayor Salinas. "We think it would hurt tourism, but what we would like to see is rather a concrete barrier built with a decorative fence that would enhance tourism."
Salinas said the border patrol agents were receptive, but that there was no formal contract.
Mayor Salinas said that he understood the debate between the two sides of the wall.
"The Border Patrol and Homeland Security said they needed the fence to do their job, I'm a big supporter of Border Patrol and Homeland Security, and if they say they need it, I think we should we comply with their needs, "Salinas said.
The mayor said the border authorities had assured him that no house would be moved when building a new wall, but he is skeptical because they have kept their commitments in the past.
Elvira Canales, 90, at her home in Salineño, Texas. She owns land along the Rio Grande and says she will not sell it and will not give permission to build a wall because "it's been part of my family for generations."
Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
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Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
Elvira Canales, 90, at her home in Salineño, Texas. She owns land along the Rio Grande and says she will not sell it and will not give permission to build a wall because "it's been part of my family for generations."
Reynaldo Leanos Jr./Texas Public Radio
Elvira Canales, 90, lives in Salineño, a 15-minute drive west of Rome.
She said that she recently spoke to the Corps of Land Engineers about a road construction project near the Rio Grande near her property. Canales said it would sue if the government was trying to take its land for the road or for the proposed wall.
"I will not sell it, or I will not give it because it's my property for generations and generations," said Canales.
The Canales family has not yet received an official letter from the government asking for permission to probe its lands.
US Customs and Border Protection officials provided NPR with a statement that they preferred to avoid homes and other structures and are in the early stages of planning and design in Starr County. CBP also indicated that it has not yet finalized the construction times of the boundary walls for the county.
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