DHS continues to file lawsuits for proposed border fence

BROWNSVILLE — The federal government is continuing its effort to gain access to land in Cameron County for the proposed border fence, filing five more lawsuits Tuesday.

Among those sued is Eloisa Tamez, an associate professor at the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College, who has repeatedly denied the government access to her property.

“We’re building the wall because we’re worried about terrorists, but on the border we’re being terrorized by our own government,” Tamez said Tuesday evening.

“I’m still going to go forward. The land is still not for sale. They’ll have to make an example out of me.”

On Dec. 7, when Tamez received a letter from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security asking for consent to access her land, the letter was addressed to Guadalupe Castaneda — a name Tamez had never heard before — and the land described was not hers. DHS gave landowners 30 days to respond to the letters.

“The letter mentioned 0.4 acres in a different location,” she said. “I believed I had been misidentified.

“How was I supposed to react to that?” Tamez asked. “I need to wait until I get the proper documents.”

The suit, which asks for access to 1.04 acres of her land, is still confusing to Tamez, as she owns more than three acres in El Calaboz, about 12 miles east of Brownsville.

“I’ll just have to wait to see more information before I know if the suit is over my land,” she said.

She is confident that her lawyer, Peter Schey, a staff attorney at the Los Angeles, Calif.-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, will have more success than the last crop of landowners who were sued on Jan. 25. In that case, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen granted federal surveyors access to 12 contested tracts of land.

“I’m not worried,” she said, “Peter Schey is talented.”

The government is seeking 1.04 acres of land belonging to Tamez, which is part of the San Pedro de Carricitos Grant, which is believed to be near San Benito, according to court records.

One of the other suits filed on Tuesday was against Celeste Montemayor Rodriguez, the wife of one of Tamez’s cousins. The land was granted to their ancestors by the King of Spain in 1747.

Rodriguez could not be reached, but Tamez said that neither her cousin nor his wife had been notified that their land was on the path of the proposed fence. The suit, she said, would come as a big surprise.

More defendants named

Also named in the newly filed government lawsuits are Ruben Quiroz of San Benito, Diana Santiso Del Rio of Mexico City, and the estate of Luciano Ortiz and Huton G. Frazier, of Bedford, Texas, court documents show.

The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Brownsville on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases against Cameron County property owners to 18.

The government is seeking to gain entry to more than a half-acre of land near the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios — land that is reportedly owned by Quiroz, according to court documents. It is seeking 2.85 acres of the Calabozo Ranch belonging to Montemayor Rodriguez.

Federal officials are also seeking access to 104.36 acres of land near Barreda Gardens, near Highway 281 and Farm-to-Market Road 1421, from Santiso Del Rio, according to court records.

Approximately 6.77 acres of land is sought from Ortiz and Frazier. The land is located south of Highway 281 and is part of the Espiritu Santo Grant, court documents state.

County still waiting to be named

As of Tuesday evening, it appeared at least two of the lawsuits had been assigned to Hanen.

Tuesday’s lawsuits come days after the federal government won the right to gain access to land owned by several Cameron County property owners for surveying and testing for the border fence.

Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said the federal government had not served the county with a lawsuit. He is hoping the U.S. Attorney’s Office will give the county notice before filing suit.

“I hope that they would at least call us up and say, ‘Hey, before we do this, do you want one more shot at giving us permission?’” Cascos said.

The county did not respond to a letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dated Dec. 7 seeking access to its land. This is the same course of action many property owners followed, before they were named in lawsuits.

The federal government allows property owners 30 days to comply with requests or face litigation.

Cascos said if federal officials ask for entry rather than sue, he will bring it before Cameron County Commissioners Court and recommend commissioners grant the government entry.

County officials had been waiting to see how the lawsuits would play out in federal court before deciding on what action to take.

Hanen on Friday granted the DHS admittance to 10 properties in Cameron County for testing and surveying. The access ends on July 23. Each property owner will receive $100 for the temporary easement, but will be able to petition for more if the property is damaged, according to the court order.