El Paso County Uses Eminent Domain On Tornillo Farmland

Quiet farmland owned by the Lettunich family along the U.S./Mexico border in Tornillo will soon turn into a very loud construction site. "It's been in the family history since about the early 20s, 1922," said Robert Lettunich, who in one court decision saw one-fifth of his family's farmland go to the government. "It's been a long, messy process." For the past eight years he's been in a fight with the county. The county wanted the land for the new Tornillo-Guadalupe Port of Entry, which is expected to ease congestion at other crossings in the Borderland. Last Thursday, through eminent domain, the county took 137 acres from Lettunich. "I don't think they took into consideration the damages for what they took; this farm is worth less than it was Thursday," Lettunich told KFOX. The county said most of the land will go to the federal government for a massive inspection station at the new port of entry...more