President-elect Biden has promised to halt construction on the border wall when he takes office in January. He has also said that he will withdraw eminent domain lawsuits to seize property. While these are certainly positive steps, what about those who have lost their property to the border wall?
Landowners across south Texas have had their property seized for the wall or had their land damaged by construction crews. Even if Biden’s promise comes to fruition, those land owners have still suffered the loss of their property. They won’t be made whole by a halt to the construction.
Eminent domain forces owners to sell their property, regardless of their own desires. When an individual is forced to involuntarily cede his property, he has been deprived of his right to property. When an individual deprives an individual of his property, it is called theft. When the government does it, it is called eminent domain.
When a thief is convicted, he typically has to pay restitution to his victim. It is a matter of justice that the thief be penalized and the victim made whole. The same applies to the border wall. That the government obtained land through a legal process does not change the fact that the government took property without the owner’s consent. As a matter of justice, the culprit should be punished and the victim should receive restitution.
It is unlikely that the wall will be dismantled or the victims will receive restitution. Instead, it will stand as a monument to a failed administration.