UTB/TSC settles dispute with DHS

BROWNSVILLE - The federal government's lawsuit against the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College over the border fence has been settled - at least for now.

After six hours of negotiations, both parties' lawyers reached a compromise before the case's scheduled court hearing on Wednesday.

The resulting court order gives federal surveyors access to the university's land in connection with federal plans to build a security fence along the U.S. border with Mexico; however, the order also imposes a number of related conditions on federal authorities.

"They're not allowed to mow a single blade of grass without our permission," UTB/TSC President Juliet V. Garcia said, summarizing what university administrators described as a minor triumph in the ongoing legal battle over the border fence.

Wednesday afternoon, Daniel Rentfro Jr., counsel for the Texas Southmost College District, told U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen that federal surveyors "are now authorized to go onto the university's property to assess all alternatives" to a physical barrier. If the U.S. Department of Homeland Security decides to construct the barrier, a second land condemnation suit will be filed.

As has been the case in previous border fence-related land condemnation lawsuits, the federal government awarded the university $100 in return for the right to access its land for six months. Barry Burgdorf, vice chancellor and general counsel for the University of Texas System, joked with Garcia, warning her not to spend the money all in one place.

Burgdorf and Garcia both made it clear, however, that the dispute was over campus safety, not the amount of money given in compensation.

When Garcia addressed the court, she also said she could not support Homeland Security's original proposal that would have channeled illegal immigrants to a gap in the fence near the center of UTB/TSC's campus.

"Allowing DHS unlimited access would have put (the public's investment in the institution) in jeopardy," she said.

Hanen, who has presided over nearly 50 border fence-related land condemnation lawsuits, expressed his satisfaction with the settlement.

"Maybe we reached a result where both sides are equally pleased and equally displeased," he said. "This is the process envisioned by Congress when they passed the (Declaration of Taking) Act."

Hanen suggested that the negotiation between the university and the federal government should be used as an example for related cases - especially those involving public institutions.

"That was our intent," Garcia said, "to test the outer edges of the rights landowners have."