Land owners impacted by proposed fence, urged to get free legal help

Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas says the Department of Homeland Security is now looking at an alternative to a border fence that has the backing of elected officials in the Rio Grande Valley.

Encouraged by the prospect of the federal government showing more flexibility in its approach to ideas from Valley leaders, Salinas is sending county engineers to El Paso to meet with Commissioner Carlos Marin, of the International Boundary and Water Commission.

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Land owners can get legal aid.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid has set up a toll-free hotline for Rio Grande Valley landowners who require legal help in fighting the federal government’s border wall plan.

“The number is 1-866-757-1570 and I really would encourage people to call the toll-free number,” said TRLA attorney Emily Rickers. “I think the most important thing is for landowners to be proactive in this situation.”

Cameron County is looking at legal options, too.

Cameron County officials are weighing their options in the face of a threatened federal lawsuit over the border fence.

“The feds have given us notice they want access to county land and they have threatened to sue,” Richard Burst, who heads the county Civil Legal Division, said Tuesday.

County commissioners held a closed-door session with their attorneys late Tuesday to discuss what response to give to a Dec. 7 letter from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The letter informs county officials of the federal government’s plan to begin surveying county owned property along the Rio Grande.