BROWNSVILLE — The Texas Civil Rights Project has launched a campaign that will help border landowners who could be approached by the federal government if it tries to take their land for construction of the border wall.
The TCRP will provide legal assistance to the landowners who could find themselves in the middle of eminent domain lawsuits filed against them by the government, officials said. They want the land owners to know their rights.
“We are ready for a contested, protracted resistance alongside Texan landowners. Under the rules governing federal condemnation actions, a landowner who disagrees with the amount offered by the government has the right to request a jury trial. Our team at the Texas Civil Rights Project is ready to represent landowners, as well as train and deploy legal volunteers to ensure that all landowners have the representation and respect they deserve,” said Efren Olivares, racial and economic justice director for TCRP, in a press release.
The Department of Homeland Security, under orders from President Donald Trump, has said it plans to build a 1,827-mile border wall along the United States-Mexico border. About 500 land owners in Cameron and Hidalgo counties own land at the Texas-Mexico border, officials said.
Emma Hilbert, a staff attorney with TCRP, said research indicates there are 350 border land owners in Cameron County and 150 in Hidalgo County.
“What we did was kind of map all the land owners by county who are along the border. Potentially everyone could be contacted (by the federal government) asking for all their land,” Hilbert said.
As of Thursday, no one had contacted the TCRP seeking assistance, which is why the nonprofit organization launched the campaign to get the word out.
Hilbert said the government already has started to send out condemnation letters to land owners who still have existing cases with the government. These letters are amended complaints.
“We are trying to reach out to as many people as we can before they sign anything without knowing their full rights,” Hilbert said.
Melissa Martinez, communications coordinator for TCRP, said the organization is getting out the word of TCRP’s help via social media and other organizations assisting immigrant communities.
“The purpose is that during the Secure Fence Act, in the past, there were property owners who didn’t know that they didn’t have to take the first (monetary) offer (from the government.) Our purpose is letting them know so that we make sure they get just compensation and due process so that their rights are protected,” Martinez said.
The TCRP will train and send legal volunteers to areas affected to ensure the landowners have the correct representation they need should a lawsuit be filed against them seeking their land.
In addition, the TCRP also will provide videos in both English and Spanish that will detail the rights border landowners have under the U.S. Constitution.
“TCRP will conduct know-your-rights trainings and distribute the video extensively across the Texas borderlands,” officials said in a press release.
