Appeals court to hear border fence case

A federal appeals court in New Orleans has taken up the case of a Los Ebanos family fighting to keep border fence surveyors off their land.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to reexamine a judge's decision to allow the government on land owned by migrant farm workers Baldomero and Hilaria Muñiz during a hearing set for July 7.

The Muñizes' case is set to become the first Rio Grande Valley border fence lawsuit argued before a federal appeals court. The body's decision could have wide-ranging implications for the more than 50 condemnation lawsuits filed against Texans who own land along the border.

But the new court date is unlikely to hinder progress on fence construction in the meantime, said the Muñizes' attorney, Jerome Wesevich of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, on Friday.

"The issues raised in this case pertain to all the condemnation cases," he said. "The government asserts absolute power in this case and that power cannot be questioned by anyone."

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen ordered the Muñizes to allow surveyors on their land in April after finding the government had a legitimate right for access should further negotiations occur.

But Wesevich argues that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security violated federal law by failing to offer the standard $100 compensation for access before suing the couple.

"This land is their livelihood," he said. "Saying it isn't worth a penny is insulting."

Current plans call for 370 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers along the southern U.S. border. So far, 309 miles of fencing have been erected, varying from metal barriers to impede pedestrians to concrete posts designed to block vehicles.

In Hidalgo County, at least 22 miles of that barrier will take the form of an enhanced levee system designed to provide both border security and flood protection.

But the plot owned by the Muñiz family is an unlikely candidate for the levee plan, since no flood control barriers currently exist near their property.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed the lawsuits against Rio Grande Valley landowners who refused the surveyors access earlier this year. Hanen has sided with the government in most of the cases that have come before him so far.
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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.