The federal government said it needed Ociel Mendoza s land on the outskirts of this tiny Texas town - and it couldn t wait any longer.
Each additional day of delay was costing the government $15,000 as contractors waited to begin construction on the border fence slated to go through Mendoza s ranch, the Department of Justice argued in court filings. By Nov. 24, the tab for the delay had reached nearly $1.6 million, the land acquisition manager for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in an affidavit.
More than a year earlier, CBP had awarded a contract then worth $33 million to a New Mexico-based company to build 4 miles of fencing in Starr County. The county is one of the top targets of President Donald Trump s administration for a border wall and a place agents have called the most volatile stretch in the nation. Construction was slated to begin in November 2019, the agency announced.
Trump Still Authorizing Contracts For Border Wall â On Land That Government Doesnât Own Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Reprinted with permission from ProPublica LA GRULLA, Texas â The federal government said it needed Ociel Mendoza s land on the outskirts of this tiny Texas town â and it couldn t wait any longer. Each additional day of delay was costing the government $15,000 as contractors waited to begin construction on the border fence slated to go through Mendoza s ranch, the Department of Justice argued in court filings. By Nov. 24, the tab for the delay had reached nearly $1.6 million, the land acquisition manager for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in an affidavit.
The Trump Admin Is Trying to Build the Border Wall on Land It Doesnât Own
President Trump gestures toward fencing at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, June 23, 2020.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
By
A new investigation has found that the Trump administration has awarded contracts to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico on land that it does not yet own. This tactic has led to millions of dollars in delay costs.
The investigation, produced jointly by
ProPublica and
The Texas Tribune, finds that, in many places where the government does not yet own the land, âthe agency has used the argument, often successfully, to convince even dubious federal judges to immediately seize land from property owners fighting their eminent domain casesâ at least 24 times. These cases have caused some frustration among the judges hearing them, the publications report, with the U.S. government forcing timelines unnecessarily.
The Trump Administration Keeps Awarding Border Wall Contracts but Doesn’t Own the Land to Build On
The government’s strategy of awarding contracts before acquiring titles to land in Texas has led to millions of dollars in costs for delays. Things could get even more complicated if President-elect Joe Biden stops border wall construction.
Dec. 23, 2020, 5 a.m. CST
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The Trump administration awarded border wall contracts to build on land it doesn t own in Texas
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LA GRULLA, Texas The federal government said it needed Ociel Mendoza s land on the outskirts of this tiny Texas town and it couldn t wait any longer.