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The federal government this month has filed a third land condemnation lawsuit in McAllen federal court.
The latest lawsuit targets a little more than 933 acres of land in Starr County owned by the city of Laredo on a plot just east of La Grulla, according to the lawsuit and Starr County Appraisal District records.
A week ago, on July 1, the government filed a land condemnation lawsuit against Florentino Luera seeking 34.38 acres of land near the Zapata County line. That same day, it also filed a lawsuit against Florencia and Salvador Garcia seeking the condemnation of 5.03 acres on a property off Midway Road in Rio Grande City.
“The public purpose for which said property is taken is to conduct surveying, testing, and other investigatory work needed in consideration of any plan for proposed construction of border barrier, including gates and power to operate such gates as well as roads that will be required to construct, operate, and maintain the border barrier,” all three lawsuits read.
The lawsuits come after a few years of planning by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In 2022, about a year after President Joe Biden promised not to build another foot of border wall, CBP announced a plan to build 86 miles of new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley.
CBP scaled that plan back significantly in 2023 when it sought public comment on building up to 20 miles of new border wall in Starr County.
That plan called for the proposed border wall to be centered around Salineno, running to the south following the river and to the north, ending south of the Falcon International Reservoir.
Here’s the latest update:
Feds seeking to condemn 1,039 acres in Starr County for border wall
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
Federal government targets 39 acres in Starr County for proposed border wall
