Calls for new laws regarding the use of eminent domain echo across the state. Rural land owners are finding their property seized to build pipelines and a railroad. In south Texas, property owners are facing seizure to build the border wall.
While stating their support for property rights, many prominent Texas politicians have defended the use of eminent domain—sometimes. Attorney General Ken Paxton, for example, sued the federal government over the use of eminent domain during the Obama Administration, declaring, “Washington, D.C., needs to hear loud and clear that Texas will not stand for the federal government’s infringement upon Texas land and the property rights of the people who live here.” Less than a year later, he defended the use of eminent domain to build the border wall, saying, “It’s a public purpose providing safety to people not only along the border, but to the entire nation.”
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