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.

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