Feds Offer Border Fence Meetings In South Texas

McALLEN, Texas (AP) – South Texans whose land is being taken for the U.S.-Mexico border fence are getting another chance to discuss the project with federal officials.

Even with construction on some sections of the fence moving forward and more than 230 condemnation cases making their way through federal courts in the Rio Grande Valley, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is offering to talk privately with landowners.

David Pagan, the agency’s state and local liaison, said in a prepared statement Wednesday that affected landowners can contact the assistant U.S. attorney assigned to their case to request a private meeting or possibly a tour of the border fence site.

Earlier this month the Texas Border Coalition blasted the government for offering to tour the fence sites with coalition members, but not property owners. At the time, Pagan wrote to the coalition that the government could not accomodate property owners.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)