One of President Joe Biden’s first official acts was to order a halt to the multibillion-dollar boondoggle of a border wall. That doesn’t mean, however, that property owners near the Rio Grande should rest assured that their property is now safe. Apparently, it isn’t.
In recent weeks, the Justice Department has published condemnation notices against dozens of parcels of property, mostly in Hidalgo and Starr counties, for use with regard to the Secure Border Initiative.
Former President Donald Trump’s much-touted border wall isn’t mentioned in the seizure notices. They say the land will be used “to construct, install, operate, and maintain a border security tower, roads, fencing, vehicle barriers, security lighting, cameras, sensors and related structures designed to help secure the United States/Mexico border within the State of Texas.”
Thousands of acres of private property already have been taken for such purposes over the past couple of decades, costing the property owners and taxpayers in litigation, restitution and other related costs — not to mention the loss of property tax revenue to local counties and other taxing district, and the services that money could have provided, as the land is taken off of private property tax rolls.
Much of the property previously seized, and many of the structures build on it, are hundreds of yards away from the river, rendering the land in between useless to the owners.
To be sure, many of the structures designed to catch encroachers and smugglers can’t be placed anywhere; the need to be where they can best serve their purpose. However, federal engineers should first look for ways of first utilizing property already in its possession, or that which the owners can’t use due to previous seizures. Doing so would respect the rights of the property owners, in addition to saving money for all parties concerned. Creative designs might enable the government to update existing structures to include at least some of the planned new items.
The security tower, for example, might serve its purpose on already existing fence line. Depending on their location, planned access roads might be built in cooperation with local entities in order to serve the needs of the Homeland Security Department while also serving residents and travelers in the area.
Obviously, government departments’ operations are constant, regardless of changes in administration. Major policy changes, however, such as those announced by the Biden administration, do warrant a full review of ongoing operations to determine what might still be warrant — and what might not — as the administration embarks on a new direction.
To be sure, our border protection hardware will need continuous maintenance and improvement, and the planned roads and structures, as stated in the seizure notice, seem justified. But the ordered change in our border wall construction plans offer the Biden White House an opportunity to review our entire border plans.
Before continuing with seizures and other old policies that will deprive Valley property owners of their investment and inheritances, officials should stop property takings that began under the previous administration and thoroughly reevaluate the plans to determine if existing plans might be conducted more efficiently.
