So How About that Wall?

President-elect Donald Trump made building a wall on the US-Mexico border a pillar of his campaign. Post-election interviews reveal he intends to keep and act upon this campaign promise. No matter one’s opinion on whether building such a wall is right course of action, there are many practical concerns to be addressed.

How Big and How Expensive will it be?

The US-Mexico border is 1,989 miles long and the President-elect has proposed 35-foot-tall walls. As far as cost, some good estimates can be made as US Customs and Border Protection already began building some fences in 2007 and the Government Accountability Office released a report on the costs and issues faced. The GAO reported that the amount of fence constructed already has cost up to $5 million per mile. Basic math then tells us that this could cost $10 billion just for a fence along the entirety of the border. However, the President-elect has promised a “wall”, this may prove to be even more expensive. Furthermore, the current work was done to tackle areas of public land first to avoid dealing with private land owners. Eventually, the government must either get permission to build across private land or take the land through a process called eminent domain.

How will the Government Get the Land?

Can the government really take land from private land owners? Yes, it can, both state governments and the federal government may do so. The Constitution specifically allows the government to do so as long as they pay fair market value for the land. That is, if the government wishes to seize the land and the owner refuses to sell it willingly the government may seize it against the owner’s wishes as long as the government pays fair market value.

Another requirement is the seized land must be used for some public purpose. This mean that eminent domain cannot be used to seize land for purely private purposes. For example, a state governor could not use eminent domain to seize land for their friend to build a private home on the land. On the other side, clearly public uses are easily approved, such as seizing land for public utility purposes like electricity poles and telephone cables. Many projects fall in the middle of this spectrum so the legitimacy of eminent domain is questionable in these areas. However, Supreme Court cases on this issue though have found this to be almost a non-issue. In particular, the Supreme Court case of Kelo v. City of New London rendered this issue almost unimportant. In Kelo, the city of New London, Connecticut wished to seize Ms. Susette Kelo’s home so that the headquarters of a private company could be built on the land. While Ms. Kelo asserted that this was a private use, the Supreme Court disagreed. The ruling in Kelo has set precedent that questionable eminent domain takings will usually be upheld by US courts.

Overall, a border wall would likely not encounter any issues with eminent domain. It’s clearly for a public purpose, national security and immigration. With this hurdle passed, the only issue would be fair market value for the lan

d. US Customs and Border Protection has already estimated this cost to be about $800,000 per mile.

Is This Already Happening?

Yes, it is already happening. When US Customs and Border Protection began building these border fences in 2007 they needed some private land that is on the US-Mexico border. Many land owners willingly sold their land, while others chose to fight the taking in court. Unfortunately for the land owners, courts consistently ruled for the federal government. This very thing happened when US Customs and Border Protection needed Dr. Eloisa G. Tamez’s ancestral land to build a border fence. Dr. Tamez took the federal government to court. In 2013 a US court ruled that US Customs and Border Protection could take Dr. Tamez’s land that had been inhabited by her family since 1767. Dr, Tamez’s case is not unusual and similar incidents are very likely to occur if the President-elect carries out his campaign promise.

Is This Really Going to Happen?

It looks like the President-elect’s plan is entirely possible and plausible. The federal government would likely be able to acquire any border land it needs for the wall through eminent domain. The only hurdle would be the cost, which would have to be set aside by Congress. However, this likely will not be an issue either as Congress has consistently approved funding for border fencing and border patrols. Overall, if the President-elect decides the act upon this campaign promise there will be very little to stop him.