Texas property owners on Trump's border wall: Not in my back yard Editorial: Perhaps Trump's "build that wall" contingent will change its chant to "seize that land" as the administration sues landowners for access

The Register's editorial | Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption The Wall: Communities cut-off Residents in this Texas village are fighting for their land and against the idea that new wall would split portions of that area. But the reality of how the government uses eminent domain could prove too tough to beat.

“Build that wall. Build that wall.”

This chant heard at Donald Trump rallies sure makes it sound simple. Just build a wall on the country's southern border to keep out people without authorization to be here.

But as with many of Trump’s ideas, reality eventually rears its ugly head.

First, there's the funding. Trump initially insisted Mexico would pay for the wall, which he estimated would be about 1,000 miles long. Our neighbor has understandably not sent a single peso.

So he turned to U.S. taxpayers, but many members of Congress, including Republicans, have not made this president’s “big, beautiful” wall a priority.

Trump's attempt to siphon money from elsewhere isn't working out so well. In early December, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction barring his attempt to transfer $3.6 billion in military construction funds to his wall effort.

SPECIAL USA TODAY NETWORK REPORT: The Wall, unknown stories, unintended consequences

Then there are the very real concerns about the impact on ecosystems and flooding and the cost of maintenance for a wall. Laborers could be hard to find unless this administration seeks help from immigrants. Talk about ironic.

Trump’s fantasy wall is a bad and unworkable idea for many reasons. That is likely why, nearly three years into his presidency, the government has constructed a mere 80 miles of barrier, most of which replaced existing fencing in California.

And now things are getting really interesting in Texas, a state that helped send Trump to the White House.

Most Texas border land is privately owned. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows private property to be “taken for public use” provided “just compensation” is paid.

President Donald Trump: Eminent domain possible for border wall During a press conference in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump says the "military version of eminent domain" allows the government to acquire land from property owners along the border, even if they don't want to sell.

Of course, many landowners do not take kindly to the government seizing their property, regardless of compensation.

They don’t want this wall. They know that it’s a logistical nightmare, and that it could even seal some Americans on the “Mexican side” of the border, which is technically U.S. soil, but outside a potential barrier.

Dozens of residents in the Rio Grande Valley are refusing to allow their land to even be surveyed, the first step in building a wall on it. So the Trump administration is suing 46 of them for the right to survey their property in preparation for acquiring it, the Wall Street Journal recently reported.

Among those targeted are farmers, ranchers, businesses and facilities owned by a Catholic diocese. Their objections range from economic to religious.

A wall would make it more difficult to access the Rio Grande river for irrigation. Cattle would not have access to water.

The Diocese of Brownsville is refusing federal efforts to survey five parcels of its land, according to the Journal. “I don’t want to use the church property to say that no matter how dire your life is, you cannot be received here,” said Bishop Daniel Flores. “The government is going to have to take the land. The church is not going to give it to them.”

The court battles could take years. Landowners know this, and some are simply trying to run out the clock on a Trump presidency.

Many Americans understand that sentiment.

But until the clock of that presidency runs out, Trump’s “build that wall” contingent might want to change its chant to “seize that land.”

They then could see how the idea of snatching property from Americans for a fantastical wall to nowhere resonates with the masses.