Cooler Heads

Will he or won’t he? As partisan commentators speculate about the possibility of the president declaring an emergency to fund his wall, little has been said about exactly what that would mean. Assuming the president follows through to create the financing he wants for the wall construction how would he go about building the wall? To begin with, the land needed along the border is primarily owned by private citizens. The government would have to acquire that land. While some people might quickly agree to sell, others most certainly would not. This could lead to the process of eminent domain. The government would have to battle in court to take the land from the private citizens that own the land. This process would not be expected to be completed by the time President Trump completes his first term. It is possible that all the cases could linger well into his second term if he is re-elected. Democrats and Republicans fight over the wall. The wall has become a symbol and there is little or no discussion beyond the fight for funding. Regardless of your personal belief on that topic, the conversation needs to move forward. If the money is allocated, the land must be allocated. How much will that cost? How long will that take? Are the civilian landowners responsible for all the legal costs? Will partisan groups swoop in with lawyers to fight for these civilians? Does this just become a legal war fought through proxies? Does it seem that the press lacks a basic understanding of the legal issues involved which has left the coverage of this issue on an elementary school level? Let’s start the conversation about what happens if the financing was approved. Let’s try to determine the cost of acquiring the land and the time reasonably expected to litigate these cases. Maybe that can steer the process from the belligerent children to the thoughtful adults, assuming there are still some grown-ups in Washington.