There's just a whole lot more land that would need to be taken in Texas. And yes, the private landowners could tie it up for years in court, even if they eventually lost.
When the Soviets were coming in 1940, Finnish border residents not only cooperated with government efforts to deny them resources, in some cases, they prepped their own houses for burning. One elderly woman, living alone, was told the soldiers would be back in the morning to help her move no more than one cart or sled full of goods. When they showed up, her stuff was all packed to move, with a note on the door saying she'd be back shortly, she was just fetching something from a neighbors, and in the meantime, they could avail themselves of the firewood and fuel she had stacked inside. The soldiers found the interior of the house immaculately cleaned and whitewashed with the wood set up to get the fire started. When the woman returned, the soldiers asked why she went to all the trouble, and she replied "When one gives a gift to the motherland, one wishes to give it in the best condition possible."
They don't FUCKING MAKE THEM like that anymore. Are all those property owners going to step up and defend their property from foreign invaders? Then fuck 'em. They're the next thing to traitors. We have people like them in Jersey, down the shore. They're people who own beachfront property and try to block dunes from being erected on the beaches, because they ruin the view. If you can afford a beachfront house, you can also afford all the best amenities, like putting it on stilts and making sure your lower floors are extra flood-proofed, you can afford the best flood insurance and even move to your inland house. But the floodwaters and hurricane waves don't stop at the property line, and everyone behind you gets wiped out. Last autumn there were STILL signs of Sandy damage getting cleaned up or repaired.
I'm as hardcore about property rights as the next person who isn't an insane libertarian purist, but there are limits, based on actually community dangers. If people don't want the wall cutting across their property, then the wall should be built around it, with them on the wrong side. I don't see why they would have a problem if having an open border with Mexico is so important to them. If they don't want to be walled off from the US, tough shit. You have to pick.
Also, anyone who owns property that turns out to have a tunnel entrance on it, should forfeit the property, unless they were the ones who reported it. Otherwise, you're guilty of aiding and abetting the violation of national security laws, which is much closer to giving aid and comfort to an enemy than talking about peace with Russia.
"Sometimes unhinged, sometimes unfair, always entertaining"
- The Crownless
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Deus Vult!
