Cuellar emphasized that the land seizures “could take years,” noting that scores of eminent domain lawsuits still are pending from the last time the federal government seized land a decade ago under the George W. Bush administration to build the first sections of border fencing in the Valley.
However, an investigation last year by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found that the federal government invoked a little-known Great Depression-era law that allowed it to swiftly seize land to build the barrier and compensate landowners later. Dozens of landowners whose property was taken for the barrier still haven't received compensation as lawsuits over the fair value of the seized land linger in court.
The investigation also found that during the process the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cut unfair real estate deals, secretly waived legal safeguards for property owners and ultimately abused the government’s extraordinary power to take land from private citizens.
Most of the land the federal government seized back then ran along the Rio Grande. All told, the agency paid $18.2 million to accumulate a ribbon of land occupying almost half the length of the 120 miles of the Valley.
Darling, the McAllen mayor, said the federal government should be held to the same standard it holds cities and counties to when they use federal funds to buy land.
“Under federal law when we take property, we always have to pay relocation, damages for the remainder,” he said. “It’s really weird: When we use federal money, it can delay projects for about a year for environmental impact (studies) and the federal government says, ‘Oh, we don’t have to do that.”
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Originally Posted by Deepvoid
