When the government constructs its border barrier in California, Arizona and New Mexico, it runs along the arrow-straight land boundary with Mexico. But in Texas, that boundary is the meandering Rio Grande. And because of flooding concerns about flooding, the border wall is often built some distance away — as much as a mile north of the river. That leaves thousands of acres between the water and the wall — all of it American soil — as no man's land.
Landowners fear the wall will effectively sever their acreage from the United States, leaving it abandoned, lawless and unprofitable. While some applaud a 30-foot-tall structure to keep out immigrants and drug runners, down in the Rio Grande Valley it has run into opposition. So far, 55 property owners have gone to court to try to block the survey and construction crews. The owners of River Bend Resort & Golf Club, located just west of Brownsville, were planning a major expansion worth millions of dollars when they heard the border wall would slice through their development.
"A 30-foot wall through the middle of the property completely kills our project," says Jeremy Barnard, part of the family that owns River Bend. Nearly 700 Americans and Canadians from the frigid north relocate there during the winter to enjoy short sleeves and margaritas, and live in upscale mobile homes amid palm trees on a sharp bend in the river. Trump's wall would go up beside an existing levee that bisects the property.
"The problem with that is 70% of our property is south of the levee," says Barnard. That includes the rec center, the pool, tennis courts, and 15 of 18 holes. All of it would be cut off by the wall. The frustrating thing, he says, is they rarely see unauthorized immigrants and drug smugglers passing through the development. Nonetheless, CBP reports that the Rio Grande Valley is the nation's hot spot for narcotics and human smuggling. His family is negotiating urgently with CBP to move the wall slightly north so it won't cut their property in half. And yet Jeremy Barnard's politics haven't changed. He remains loyal to President Trump...West of the River Bend Resort, the landscape reverts to fields of onions, cotton and corn. Richard Drawe leans against his pickup truck at his farm headquarters south of the town of Weslaco. He has worked this rich delta soil all his life, like his father and grandfather before him.
"I'm 70 years old and it's gonna ruin my lifestyle here of living in the country," he says. "To have that wall there is just gonna really disturb me." Drawe knows he can't beat Washington, D.C., so last fall, he reluctantly sold the government a ribbon of land so they could erect the fence across his property. Like Jeremy Barnard, Richard Drawe supports Trump and is all for increasing border security — he just doesn't want the wall on his property.
"I told them that this stupid wall is gonna have lights on it. It's gonna be like being behind a prison wall, lights and everything," Drawe says. "And I said, 'You put them lights up on me and my house, I'm gonna shoot em out.' Of course, I had time to calm down."
He has seen what's happened over the past decade to riverside land isolated by the border wall that was erected by President George W. Bush. He says the acreage is effectively ceded to Mexico. He's worried that bad hombres will cross the river from Mexico and threaten his farmhands...
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