Story highlights Roughly two-thirds of the Southern border runs through private or state-owned lands

The staff notes that DHS has not answered questions about how much eminent domain it will require

Washington (CNN) Although approval for a new border wall has yet to come, the Trump administration has taken subtle steps to be able to seize land to build one, including by restarting litigation that has laid dormant for years against landowners, according to a new report from Senate Democrats.

Roughly two-thirds of the US-Mexico border runs through private or state-owned lands, meaning the federal government would need to purchase, seize or seek permission to use land in order to build a border wall. Based on efforts a decade ago to build border fencing, that process is likely to cost the government millions and could take years of complex litigation.

And it appears the administration is gearing up for it.

Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee produced a report on eminent domain and a border wall on Monday, citing the administration's lack of clarity about what would be required to build President Donald Trump's proposed wall.

The committee points to signs that the administration is preparing for a fresh round such fights, as Congress continues to debate whether to give the Department of Homeland Security any money to build new barriers on the Southern border.

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