UTB-TSC settles dispute with DHS

The federal government's lawsuit against UTB-TSC over the border fence has been settled-at least for now.

After six hours of negotiations, both parties' lawyers reached a compromise before the case's scheduled court hearing on Wednesday.

The resulting court order gives federal surveyors access to the university's land, but asserts a number of related conditions.

"They're not allowed to mow a single blade of grass without our permission," University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College President Juliet V. Garcia said, summarizing what university administrators described as a minor triumph in ongoing border fence litigation.

On Wednesday afternoon, Daniel Rentfro Jr., counsel for Texas Southmost College District told U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen that federal surveyors "are now authorized to go onto the university's property to assess all alternatives" to a physical barrier. If the U.S. Department of Homeland Security decides to construct the barrier, a second land condemnation suit will be filed.

As has been the case in previous border fence-related land condemnation lawsuits, the federal government awarded the university $100 in return for the right to access its land for six months. Barry Burgdorf, vice chancellor and general counsel for the University of Texas System, joked with Garcia, warning her not to spend the money all in one place.

Burgdorf and Garcia both made it clear that the dispute was over campus safety, not financial compensation. When she addressed the court, Garcia said she could not support DHS's original proposal that would have channeled undocumented immigrants to a gap in the fence near the center of UTB-TSC's campus.

"Allowing DHS unlimited access would have put public investment in jeopardy," she said.

Hanen, who has presided over nearly 50 border fence-related land condemnation lawsuits, expressed his satisfaction with the settlement.

"Maybe we reached a result where both sides are equally pleased and equally displeased," he said. "This is the process envisioned by Congress when they passed the (Declaration of Taking) Act."

Hanen suggested that the negotiation between the university and the federal government should be used as a template for related cases - especially those involving public institutions.

"That was our intent," Garcia said, "to test the outer edges of the rights landowners have."