Thread: Feds begin buying land in Texas for border fence

Feds begin buying land in Texas for border fence

Associated Press - April 17, 2008 8:05 PM ET

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - The U.S. government has begun buying land for a border security fence in South Texas.

The purchases started about two weeks after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived more than 30 laws and regulations.

Those rules could have impeded the goal to build 670 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of the year.

The government spent three months battling holdout landowners in court to win access for their survey crews.

The Associated Press reports a second round of condemnation lawsuits is expected against those who refuse to sell.

A Customs spokesman says the land buying process began in late February when "value letters" with initial offers were sent to some landowners.

Then real estate experts from the Army Corps of Engineers follow up with face-to-face meetings.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=8184753

I don't understand this. Why does land have to be purchased? Utility companies and the government have easements on properties that facilitate public need. Why the heck aren't there easements for the border????

cvangle,

Texas may have some strange fence rules. I know that if the fence is on the property line, both owners have a claim to it. An easment may not allow a structure to be built or protect the structure from the property owner. If the US Gov owns the property it will have clear ownership of the fence.

One of the sunset laws in Texas was that if you were caught within a specified distance of a fence, with a pair of wire cutters you would face criminal charges. This is cattle country and you don't mess with a man's fence.

Dixie