Border Patrol eyes private land for interim checkpoint

Officials discovered there would not be enough room within the Arizona Department of Transportation land for the pull-off lane needed for the interim highway inspection station, John Fitzpatrick, assistant chief in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, told about 50 people at a meeting in Tubac.

At least five landowners in the area east of I-19 and north of Tubac received letters earlier this month from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asking for permission to begin surveying their land for a checkpoint project. It surprised them, as well as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., whose district encompasses the area and who has been involved with community meetings about the proposed checkpoints in the past 18 months.

Fitzpatrick said the Border Patrol didn't know about the letters, either. He apologized Thursday for the miscommunication and not giving advance notice to area residents.

The agency instructed the Army Corps of Engineers, which coordinates many of the Department of Homeland Security's border construction projects, to give it notice in the future before sending such letters so it can advise the community.

The agency won't know how much land or whose land will be needed to construct the third lane until the surveys are completed, Fitzpatrick said. Some land, however, will definitely be needed for the extra lane, he said.

Federal officials would negotiate with landowners to buy the land they need, he said. If the property owners refuse to sell, they'll negotiate some more. The last resort would be condemnation, Fitzpatrick said.

The federal government's authority to acquire private property through the process of eminent domain is implied under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Department of Homeland Security's power to take private property was enhanced by Congress in 2005 with passage of the Real ID Act that waived federal environmental and other laws that hinder the agencies' border-enforcement efforts.

The Army Corps of Engineers told Fitzgerald that "most" of the people who received letters have signed off for the surveys, but two of the residents say they aren't going to give permission for the surveys and don't want to sell their property.

Curtis Rogers, who has 10 acres east of I-19 south of the current checkpoint location at Agua Linda Road, said he doesn't want a checkpoint near him and has no intention to move, either.

The 72-year-old has lived at his property, where he has three horses, a bull and several cats and dogs, for the past 15 years and plans to stay there as long as he can, he said.

He says he's prepared to play hardball with the Department of Homeland Security. Whether that leads to more money for his land or to a condemnation battle remains to be seen, he said.

"It would be a big inconvenience (to have to move)," Rogers said. "I don't want to move. I enjoy living there. I enjoy my life."

Carlton Baker and his wife, Sherry Sass, received a letter asking permission to survey five of the 26 acres of vacant land they own about one mile south of Agua Linda Road.

They were told by a representative from the Army Corps of Engineers by phone that "everybody else was on board" and that they were the only ones who hadn't signed, Baker said. When they asked what would happen if they didn't sign, the man told them the U.S. Attorney's Office would get involved, he said.

The man then asked if $250 or $500 would change his mind, Baker said. He didn't accept the money and hasn't responded to the letter. They don't plan to give permission, he said.

"I don't want to live next to a checkpoint," said Baker, who lives in Tubac. He said they had planned to build their retirement home on the vacant lot.

A contingent of residents in the Tubac/Amado area has been strongly opposed to a permanent checkpoint since the Border Patrol made its intentions known about a year and a half ago. They worry about the effects on their neighborhoods from the smugglers who circumvent the checkpoint, question why the agency isn't securing the border closer to the international line, and doubt the effectiveness of a fixed checkpoint.

No timeline has been set for the construction of the interim facility, which would also include a canopy over the northbound lanes of I-19, a modular building and additional electrical and data lines, Fitzpatrick said.

The Border Patrol wants to get the project going as soon as possible but has to wait for the surveys and then, environmental assessments, to be completed, he said.

The surveys are being done in a 1.2-mile stretch between Tubac and Amado, kilometer posts 40-42, Fitzpatrick said. That's where the agency would like to build a permanent checkpoint facility in the future, but no location has been set for that, he said.

Many Tubac residents at the meeting expressed frustration that the Border Patrol continues to move forward with its plan to build the interim facility without the results from a Government Accountability Office report on the effectiveness of the checkpoint, which has not yet been conducted. Residents said they understood that would happen before any interim facility would be built.

Giffords supports the plan for the interim facility but then wants it to be evaluated before they move forward with a permanent checkpoint, said Ron Barber, Giffords' district director in Tucson. He reminded the residents that an interim facility could be taken down.

He said Giffords' office has been pushing for the GAO study to be started but said he doesn't know when it will be conducted.

Fitzpatrick repeated what the Border Patrol has been saying since late 2006: The agency needs a permanent checkpoint to slow illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

The Border Patrol has employed a checkpoint on I-19 for years, but the Tucson Sector is the only one of the nine Southwest border sectors without a permanent inspection station.