If Trump's Border Wall Becomes Reality, Here's How He Could Easily Get Private Land for It

[Celerity]

A law is supposed to protect property owners from lowball offers by the government when it takes land through eminent domain. But a letter shows how simple it is for officials to eviscerate what is already a pretty toothless law.

https://www.propublica.org/article/if-trumps-border-wall-becomes-reality-heres-how-he-could-easily-get-private-land-for-it

On March 15, President Donald Trump vetoed Congress’ attempt to stop him from declaring a national emergency to build a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico.

His construction plans still face court challenges. But if the effort survives, you can expect this to happen in the near future: The federal government will begin seizing private land to build the wall, a process known as eminent domain.

It’s a fundamental power, laid out in the Fifth Amendment. The government can take your land to build public works, but it has to pay you “just compensation” — the amount that a willing buyer would pay a willing seller to purchase the property.

But the federal power to seize land contains none of the landholder protections commonly found in state and local jurisdictions. The federal government rarely loses its bid to take land. Under a special procedure, federal officials can file a Declaration of Taking that results in a court granting immediate title to the land. Bulldozers can roll the next day. The only fight, essentially, is over how much money the property owner will receive.

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[ALBliberal]

1. Getting paws on water rights up and down the Rio Grande

Valley I suspect this is a lot of the reason why Trump and cronies are pushing for the ineffectual and fantastical wall.