Florentino Luera, a landowner in Starr County, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming it's trying to take his property for new border wall construction. This marks the second time Luera has sued the government for the same reason, with a 2021 ruling saw the action reversed and his property given back to him.
The federal government contacted Luera once again in October last year, seeking permission to survey his property for potential border security infrastructure. Then on July 1 of this year, he received another letter informing him they had filed a second condemnation action, going as far as to claim that they actually own a portion of Mr. Luera's property, according to Border Report.
Luera's lawsuit seeks enforcement of the prior court order returning the property to him, a declaration of his title ownership, and "just compensation through inverse condemnation" for the taking of his property.
"We seek to resolve the ongoing property dispute and ensure Mr. Luera receives the compensation he is entitled to," said his lawyer, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Staff Attorney Peter McGraw. "We believe the Court has already determined Mr. Luera's sole ownership during the prior condemnation litigation and hope to solve both cases expeditiously."
Luera's lawsuit also alleges that officials with the government have improperly entered his property since November 2023.
The land in question is located at the far western tip of Starr County, near the border with Zapata County and Falcon Dam. According to a title and deed submitted in the case, Luera bought 34 acres in 1998 and added 3 more acres in 2004. He uses it to raise cattle, goats and chicken and visits the land often, according to court documents.
in October 2023, Biden announced a 20-mile stretch of border wall would be built in Starr County. In doing so, the administration waived 26 environmental laws in order to expedite construction of border barrier. The 2-mile barrier that is to be built in the vicinity of Luera's tract of land in Chapeño would begin in the western edge of the county 1 mile south of Falcon Lake.
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