South Texas Grandma vs. Border Fence

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Valley grandmother stands up for her rights over border fence

by Carlos Guerra

San Antonio Express-News

It is never nice to pick on grandma. But if you do, don't expect her to take it lightly — even if you are Secretary Michael Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security.

When virulent anti-immigrant voices started demanding that our nation's 2,100-mile southern border be walled off, more moderate voices questioned the wisdom of such a plan.

And ironically, many whose patron saint is the same Ronald Reagan who demanded that the Berlin Wall be torn down were among the border wall's most vociferous advocates. Don't they remember that the Berlin Wall's effectiveness ended when East German border guards' shoot-to-kill orders were withdrawn?

As the border wall idea gained traction, immigration reform and national Latino organizations sputtered and fumed about it. But in 2006, Congress passed the Secure Fence Act anyway, though the lawmakers refrained from funding it.

As plans for its construction emerged, local border-area officials banded together to keep the barrier from traversing their communities (while skipping some posh resorts of at least one big GOP donor).

But flush with power, DHS officials started to brazenly exercise broad powers they believed were theirs to steam-roll over protesting local jurisdictions.

But the backlash was sufficient that when Congress funded the wall, it was conditioned on DHS negotiating with those who would be affected.

One affected party is Eloisa Tamez, who beams about her five children and 15 grandchildren. She lives simply on three acres that remain from the 12,700-acre Spanish land grant her family received in the 1700s. Interestingly, her land is a mile north of the border.

"When they first came to me (to talk about) the wall, they were surprised when I asked, 'If you're going to build a wall (through my property), how am I going to get to the other side of my land?' she says. "'We have a plan for a gate three miles east of where you are,' they told me, and I said, 'I'm not going three miles out of the way, go through a gate where I'm sure I'll have to show some ID and then turn back three miles to my land.'"

When they said she would have to drive the six miles to her backyard like everyone else, she refused to give them access to her land to survey it, take soil samples and do whatever else they wanted to assess its suitability for the wall.

"I guess I've been resistant all the way," Tamez giggles. After refusing to sign a second waiver sent by certified mail, she was sued. So, she countersued.

Tamez is no anti-government crusader. After becoming a registered nurse, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and was a reservist for 17 years, and then worked 27 years as a VA nurse before retiring. Nor is she a dummy. As an RN, she earned her master's in nursing and a doctorate in health education. She now heads UT-Brownsville's masters in nursing program.

Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued a stinging 32-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, ruling that "Dr. Tamez correctly asserts that negotiations are a prerequisite to the exercise of eminent domain," and that DHS had presented "insufficient evidence as to whether there has been bona fide efforts to negotiate ..."

It is a temporary victory, Tamez says, but she is optimistic.

"We're trying to delay (the wall) until Congress can look at it and see that this isn't a good idea, which they already kind of did by amending the law through the appropriations act."

And she's hardly alone in her fight, she adds, noting that "my neighbors keep telling me, 'Keep it mi'jita, keep it up.'"

But she has another, perhaps greater purpose, she explains.

"My goal is to make people aware that you are not a criminal and you are not breaking the law if you stand up for your rights. That is my main purpose for speaking up."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnist...ra.3d4a72e.html

[peejay 327]

And ironically, many whose patron saint is the same Ronald Reagan who demanded that the Berlin Wall be torn down were among the border wall's most vociferous advocates. Don't they remember that the Berlin Wall's effectiveness ended when East German border guards' shoot-to-kill orders were withdrawn?

As the border wall idea gained traction, immigration reform and national Latino organizations sputtered and fumed about it.

Total bullshit and propoganda. After 20 million illegal aliens (most coming across the US / Mexico border), the US is trying to keep unauthorized people out...not it's own citizens in. Of course Latinos don't like it. With over 80% of illegal aliens in the USA being Latinos, they feel that any attempt to stop their self recognized right to illegally immigrate, work illegally, and remit the loot back home is mean.

The USA has the sovereign right to regulate entry into the USA and control its borders. Something Mexicans and Latin Americans refuse to respect.

With the insanity that is now going on along our border...the US military should be securing it too until a fence is built. Mexico has brought this on itself.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

And ironically, many whose patron saint is the same Ronald Reagan who demanded that the Berlin Wall be torn down were among the border wall's most vociferous advocates. Don't they remember that the Berlin Wall's effectiveness ended when East German border guards' shoot-to-kill orders were withdrawn?

As the border wall idea gained traction, immigration reform and national Latino organizations sputtered and fumed about it.

Total bullshit and propoganda. After 20 million illegal aliens (most coming across the US / Mexico border), the US is trying to keep unauthorized people out...not it's own citizens in. Of course Latinos don't like it. With over 80% of illegal aliens in the USA being Latinos, they feel that any attempt to stop their self recognized right to illegally immigrate, work illegally, and remit the loot back home is mean.

The USA has the sovereign right to regulate entry into the USA and control its borders. Something Mexicans and Latin Americans refuse to respect.

With the insanity that is now going on along our border...the US military should be securing it too until a fence is built. Mexico has brought this on itself.

LOL that's Carlos Guerra for you. Just skip the first 3 paragraphs, and read the rest. Some of the things that caught my eye were:

As plans for its construction emerged, local border-area officials banded together to keep the barrier from traversing their communities (while skipping some posh resorts of at least one big GOP donor).

and

Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued a stinging 32-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, ruling that "Dr. Tamez correctly asserts that negotiations are a prerequisite to the exercise of eminent domain," and that DHS had presented "insufficient evidence as to whether there has been bona fide efforts to negotiate ..."

We lost part of our farm to eminent domain (for the construction of an interstate highway.) That wasn't the main issue -- it was the fact that the government refused to build an overpass for farmers in the vicinity to get across to their fields on the other side -- on a tractor, it's a minimum hour-long detour to get to the next overpass several miles down the road, and then come back the other way. That's the basic issue that made this woman mad, too:

"When they first came to me (to talk about) the wall, they were surprised when I asked, 'If you're going to build a wall (through my property), how am I going to get to the other side of my land?' she says. "'We have a plan for a gate three miles east of where you are,' they told me, and I said, 'I'm not going three miles out of the way, go through a gate where I'm sure I'll have to show some ID and then turn back three miles to my land.'"

Edited to add: I don't think this woman's complaint has anything to do with your editorializing about "Latinos" and their alleged "self-recognized right to illegally immigrate and work illegally." She's an American citizen, for crying out loud, and her family has owned that land for centuries.

Edited March 11, 2008 by wife_of_mahmoud

[mawilson 2,133]

[HAL 9000 96]

I'm tellin ya, Reality show...

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

And ironically, many whose patron saint is the same Ronald Reagan who demanded that the Berlin Wall be torn down were among the border wall's most vociferous advocates. Don't they remember that the Berlin Wall's effectiveness ended when East German border guards' shoot-to-kill orders were withdrawn?

As the border wall idea gained traction, immigration reform and national Latino organizations sputtered and fumed about it.

Total bullshit and propoganda. After 20 million illegal aliens (most coming across the US / Mexico border), the US is trying to keep unauthorized people out...not it's own citizens in. Of course Latinos don't like it. With over 80% of illegal aliens in the USA being Latinos, they feel that any attempt to stop their self recognized right to illegally immigrate, work illegally, and remit the loot back home is mean.

The USA has the sovereign right to regulate entry into the USA and control its borders. Something Mexicans and Latin Americans refuse to respect.

With the insanity that is now going on along our border...the US military should be securing it too until a fence is built. Mexico has brought this on itself.

LOL that's Carlos Guerra for you. Just skip the first 3 paragraphs, and read the rest. Some of the things that caught my eye were:

As plans for its construction emerged, local border-area officials banded together to keep the barrier from traversing their communities (while skipping some posh resorts of at least one big GOP donor).

and

Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued a stinging 32-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, ruling that "Dr. Tamez correctly asserts that negotiations are a prerequisite to the exercise of eminent domain," and that DHS had presented "insufficient evidence as to whether there has been bona fide efforts to negotiate ..."

We lost part of our farm to eminent domain (for the construction of an interstate highway.) That wasn't the main issue -- it was the fact that the government refused to build an overpass for farmers in the vicinity to get across to their fields on the other side -- on a tractor, it's a minimum hour-long detour to get to the next overpass several miles down the road, and then come back the other way. That's the basic issue that made this woman mad, too:

"When they first came to me (to talk about) the wall, they were surprised when I asked, 'If you're going to build a wall (through my property), how am I going to get to the other side of my land?' she says. "'We have a plan for a gate three miles east of where you are,' they told me, and I said, 'I'm not going three miles out of the way, go through a gate where I'm sure I'll have to show some ID and then turn back three miles to my land.'"

Edited to add: I don't think this woman's complaint has anything to do with your editorializing about "Latinos" and their alleged "self-recognized right to illegally immigrate and work illegally." She's an American citizen, for crying out loud, and her family has owned that land for centuries.

I really can't wait until a new administration steps in and stops the illegal and anti-american actions of the DHS. In fact, is there any precedent for totally eliminating a recently created bureaucracy?

[HAL 9000 96]

Eminent domain has really taken a new definition in the last 7 years, unfortunately. It will take quite a lot of work to fix all these pathetic attitudes while protecting us from this horde of latinos that are so eloquently described by previous and repetitive arguments against their likeliness.

[peejay 327]

And ironically, many whose patron saint is the same Ronald Reagan who demanded that the Berlin Wall be torn down were among the border wall's most vociferous advocates. Don't they remember that the Berlin Wall's effectiveness ended when East German border guards' shoot-to-kill orders were withdrawn?

As the border wall idea gained traction, immigration reform and national Latino organizations sputtered and fumed about it.

Total bullshit and propoganda. After 20 million illegal aliens (most coming across the US / Mexico border), the US is trying to keep unauthorized people out...not it's own citizens in. Of course Latinos don't like it. With over 80% of illegal aliens in the USA being Latinos, they feel that any attempt to stop their self recognized right to illegally immigrate, work illegally, and remit the loot back home is mean.

The USA has the sovereign right to regulate entry into the USA and control its borders. Something Mexicans and Latin Americans refuse to respect.

With the insanity that is now going on along our border...the US military should be securing it too until a fence is built. Mexico has brought this on itself.

LOL that's Carlos Guerra for you. Just skip the first 3 paragraphs, and read the rest. Some of the things that caught my eye were:

As plans for its construction emerged, local border-area officials banded together to keep the barrier from traversing their communities (while skipping some posh resorts of at least one big GOP donor).

and

Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen issued a stinging 32-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, ruling that "Dr. Tamez correctly asserts that negotiations are a prerequisite to the exercise of eminent domain," and that DHS had presented "insufficient evidence as to whether there has been bona fide efforts to negotiate ..."

We lost part of our farm to eminent domain (for the construction of an interstate highway.) That wasn't the main issue -- it was the fact that the government refused to build an overpass for farmers in the vicinity to get across to their fields on the other side -- on a tractor, it's a minimum hour-long detour to get to the next overpass several miles down the road, and then come back the other way. That's the basic issue that made this woman mad, too:

"When they first came to me (to talk about) the wall, they were surprised when I asked, 'If you're going to build a wall (through my property), how am I going to get to the other side of my land?' she says. "'We have a plan for a gate three miles east of where you are,' they told me, and I said, 'I'm not going three miles out of the way, go through a gate where I'm sure I'll have to show some ID and then turn back three miles to my land.'"

Edited to add: I don't think this woman's complaint has anything to do with your editorializing about "Latinos" and their alleged "self-recognized right to illegally immigrate and work illegally." She's an American citizen, for crying out loud, and her family has owned that land for centuries.

I see your point.

However, my great grandfather was a US citizen too when the family farm was seized to make way for a T.V.A. dam and lake in the 1940's. I wasn't born then, but I'm sure he didn't like his home being seized either. The question is really whether the benefit to the many negates the rights of the few. That is what eminent domain has always been about.

In the case of the border fence...I'd say severely reducing illegal immigration into the rest of the USA trumps the rights of the few border land owners as long as the laws of eminent domain are followed.

Just as a side note...I do not like seeing private property seized to make way for private projects such as seizing homes to make way for shopping mall or condos. That is wrong.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I see your point.

However, my great grandfather was a US citizen too when the family farm was seized to make way for a T.V.A. dam and lake in the 1940's. I wasn't born then, but I'm sure he didn't like his home being seized either. The question is really whether the benefit to the many negates the rights of the few. That is what eminent domain has always been about.

In the case of the border fence...I'd say severely reducing illegal immigration into the rest of the USA trumps the rights of the few border land owners as long as the laws of eminent domain are followed.

Just as a side note...I do not like seeing private property seized to make way for private projects such as seizing homes to make way for shopping mall or condos. That is wrong.

Yes -- this sort of thing has happened many times in the past. But that doesn't necessarily make all current attempts to utilize eminent domain defensible, or even legal.

In this case, the plan makes part of her land essentially useless to her, but she won't be compensated for that. Only the land that is actually taken is paid for -- not the part that is effectively cut off (unless she wants to drive 6 miles out of the way to get to her own backyard.) The article also mentions that her land is a mile away from the border. I was wondering about the reasoning for that -- why have American private property on the other side of the fence ?

Perhaps most importantly, though -- the court found that DHS had not demonstrated "bona-fide efforts to negotiate" as they are required to do by law *before* exercising eminent domain. This is the scary part.

Edited March 11, 2008 by wife_of_mahmoud

[Scott & Lai 12]

The article also mentions that her land is a mile away from the border. I was wondering about the reasoning for that -- why have American private property on the other side of the fence ?

That definitely makes no sense...shouldn't the fence be on the border?

[GaryC 7]

"When virulent anti-immigrant voices started demanding that our nation's 2,100-mile southern border be walled off, more moderate voices questioned the wisdom of such a plan."

I really hate the way people that don't like illegal immigration are framed this way. We are not anti-immigrant. We are anti-illegal immigrants.

Edited March 12, 2008 by GaryC

[Scott & Lai 12]

"When virulent anti-immigrant voices started demanding that our nation's 2,100-mile southern border be walled off, more moderate voices questioned the wisdom of such a plan."

I really hate the way people that don't like illegal immigration are framed this way. We are not anti-immigrant. We are anti-illegal immigrants.

Standard practice, Gary, if you can't win an argument on its merits, you can always call your opposition an evil bigot.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

"When virulent anti-immigrant voices started demanding that our nation's 2,100-mile southern border be walled off, more moderate voices questioned the wisdom of such a plan."

I really hate the way people that don't like illegal immigration are framed this way. We are not anti-immigrant. We are anti-illegal immigrants.

YES!!!!