Farmer Says He’ll Give Trump An Easement To Build The Wall
James Johnson grew up farming on the border between U.S. and Mexico. In fact, his great grandfather bought their New Mexico farm in 1918. Their 7,000-acre ranch runs along 14 miles of the border just west of El Paso. Johnson says the wall is needed and he’s willing to give the government an easement on his land to build it.
“My house is a half mile off the Mexican border,” he told AgriTalk host Chip Flory. “When I'm standing in the bathroom, looking out the bathroom window, my view is Mexico and the border.”
According to Johnson, some stretches of the 14 miles his farm runs along the border is protected by a vehicle barrier, but the rest is barbed wire fence that he’s required to maintain. He says the power struggle between President Trump and the Democrats has less to do with border security than it does preventing the president from keeping a campaign promise.
“I think this is a complete stone wall on their part just trying to shut him down,” he said.
Is It A Crisis?
Every stretch of the border has its own problems, Johnson said. In 2004 and 2005, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) estimated there were 700 to 750 people crossing the border on their ranch each night. The Johnson family was very vocal about the issue and as a result got additional resources to help combat the issues they were facing.
“We got more technology thrown at us, plus the manpower,” Johnson said. “We went from 150 border patrol agents to 400. We still see drive-through and we still see foot traffic. But when they secure one area, it pushes somewhere else and that's what I think the other side doesn't see with this fence.”
The border wall won’t solve all of the problems, Johnson said, but he thinks it’s a necessary place to start.
“We build fences around cattle and cattle still get out,” he said. “You still have to put a fence around them to maintain the integrity of your property.”
In New Mexico, the influx of asylum seekers is causing real issues, Johnson added.
Can The Government Build The Wall On Private Property?
Well, in 1907 President Roosevelt established the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot strip of land on the U.S. side of the United States-Mexico Border, under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government. Roosevelt said the land would be used “free from obstruction as a protection against the smuggling of goods between the United States and Mexico."
Johnson said that 60-foot easement should be enough, but if the government needs more space to build the wall, he’d gladly give it to them.
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You'll get pretty much the same story in Cochise County in SE Arizona as well. We are in a crisis right now as well. Sadly, the individuals who do not live on or anywhere near the border refuse to acknowledge this because leftist liberal politicians and liberal controlled media are too busy blowing smoke to try to convince the left that the problem does not exist and said individuals refuse to listen to those of us that live down here or come to the border personally to get a dose of reality that they fear so much...
The MSM and left-wing politicians have tried to portray the opposite of reality across our southern border, even though they rarely interview the people who have real life knowledge.
This isn't a "manufactured crisis" ... it's real life.
So exactly what problems do you face on a regular basis? I honestly want to know. Are drugs imported from Mexico flooding your streets? Is the a crime wave being conducted by illegal immigrants? I mean, seriously, what is the actual emergency?
I doubt you will accept what I say, but hete goes. I love 6 blocks from the AZ/Mexico border fence. I have illegals running the alleys behind my house every night. The town I live in has a population of about 13,000. We have one of the largest Border Patrol stations in the country. There are a number of burglaries and home invasions perpetrated by illegal immigrants. I have been burglarized by them twice myself, once while I was at home. The drug cartels regularly bring their drugs through my area due to wide open areas where there are numerous holes cut into fencing which in many areas is just chain link. As soon as the fencing is repaired, it is cut again. Large numbers of illegal immigrants come through those same areas and their tear down large amounts of fencing to the farms and ranches. They leave huge amounts of trash in their wake. They routinely slaughter livestock and family pets for food and routinely damage property and break into houses of said ranchers in the areas outside of town looking for food, valuables, and weapons. Many of those ranchers and farmers go armed to protect themselves, their families, and their property. Many live 15 to 20 miles away from town and it may take up to an hour before any law enforcement arrive to help. Maybe that does not qualify as a crisis to many that do not live here, but it certainly is to us.
Then I am sure you could take a video of all these undocumented people running in the alley.
Pictures of all this trash and broken fencing.
Local articles about livestock being eaten.
Also, with one of the largest border patrol stations around, all these undocumented people are just strolling on, right next to it...
Not veen sure what that means but how do you know they are illegal? Have you stopped and interviewed them?
Cool.
Shit luck. I had a place I was renting years ago burglarized and my girlfriend and I walked in on it. Probably lucky neither of us got hurt, but it was a white woman. Clearly white women are a problem that we need to do something about, based upon personal experience.
And dip shit's wall won't change that, moving on.
Yep. It really almost sounds like you are arguing that physical barriers don't work very well. That people always find a way over, around, under, or through them...
But, physical barriers have historically ALWAYS worked, I just don't get it....
Huh, why is this epidemic not national news? I haven't even heard about this from Fox.
Sounds like America in general.
Doesn't sound like it to me. Call up the Mexican government and ask them for the money Trump promised cuz there are many more important issues I want my tax dollars spent on.
Way to sympathize with somebody's serious problems. You have about as much compassion as Anna Navarro filing her nails while hearing about crime victims.
I told you you would not accept what I had to say. Your mind is closed and already made up. You want proof? Look up illegal immigration in Cochise County. There's a lot there. Why should I do your research for you? But then again I feel reasonably certain you will find some reason to deny or denigrate what you see, even if you even bother to look it up.
As I just told Thrawn, go to illegal immigration in Cochise County on line. There is plenty of info and proof there. Why should I do your research for you?
Because I am not the one that made the claim.
I don't make claims that I cannot back up.
I believe you. You said there is a large border patrol station where you live. Is there any type of barrier separating the border?
Curious as to why you even asked if all you going to do was ridicule my responses. Guess I should have known better. Won't make that mistake again.
Yes, but it varies in type. On the border that covers the city limits you have the steel reinforced type commonly seen. That extends for several miles outside of town into tje desert on either side. Then it becomes chain link for several miles before becoming three strand barbed wire. These are the areas where drug and human smugglers come through as it is easier to cut and less chance of detection from the Border Patrol.
If you're against a wall/fence/whatever to protect this man's property and family, I'd love to hear why. Why should we abandon this person?
In 2004 and 2005, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) estimated there were 700 to 750 people crossing the border on their ranch each night. That adds up to a quarter of a million people walking acost this mans 14 mile border frontage a year. They must be wearing a rut by now or perhaps there are much fewer these days.
If you're against a wall/fence/whatever to protect this man's property and family, I'd love to hear why. Why should we abandon this person?
According to Johnson, some stretches of the 14 miles his farm runs along the border is protected by a vehicle barrier, but the rest is barbed wire fence that he’s required to maintain.
Sounds like he could use a Go Fund Me Page unless he's of the mind the government will fix his problem in the location he chose to have a ranch, then he will probably be kept waiting, cause our government fixes problems really slowly, always has.
That's why I relocated myself out of the midwest, I was sick of people waiting for the government to fix the fact that cornfields and baseball fields don't make for a thriving economy. 40 years later, I dont think they ever will but I know people sill waiting.
Yes it us the governments job to protect him and his property from foreign invaders
They are lying. There is no way in hell close to 1k people are crossing his land every night. If 20 people in the area had the same numbers that would be about 5 million a year.
This was back in 2004 and 2005, before they got the additional resources to protect the ranch. Do you understand context?
I still don't believe his numbers from whenever.
What are the numbers now?
So I can make a false claim from a decade ago to supposedly prove a point?
Seems to me, nobody has harmed this man.
I hope you'll not wait too long for an answer. The anti-wall/fence/barrier folks rarely comment on these seeds.
I guarantee that is bullshit. Are you seriously telling me every farmer and rancher on the boarder wants more government interference on their land?
If the government asked to build some shit on my property and asked me to maintain it I would tell them to fuck off. In fact, I would actually demand they compensate me on a regular basis in order to even allow whatever the fuck it is on my property. If the government threatened ED, I'll see you bitches in court.
I don't believe a word he says.
First off, there is no way 1.25 million people cross his land in 5 years.
Second, they all lie blaming the Democrats. Last year they gave trump what he wanted, he balked and threw it back it in their faces.
trump is playing games for his own political purposes.
Oh of course not. That would essentially be a constant flow of people on a daily basis. You know, sort of the thing that gets noticed, and yet this is the first any of us have heard about it.
I have pointed that out several times. The Democrats offered dip shit like $25 billion for this idiotic project, and he rejected it. Not to mention the GOP controlled the federal government for the last 2 years and not once did they give up any money for a wall. You would think that says something.
That is his entire life. Playing games with people for his own personal pleasure. He is your typical idiot asshole, the only difference is daddy left him hundreds of millions of $s.
FYI, there is a constant flow on a daily basis. You don't hear about it because the liberal media chooses not to publicise it. Ask anybody that lives down here like I do and they will tell you.
Yep, I am sure.
So what in the fuck is Fox doing? Or are they the liberal media as well?
Yeah, personal opinions are useless, show me numbers.
I'm glad to see that you think the following just took place this year:
Which is ironic, since this was Bill Clinton's 1995 State of the Union Address.
Actually, he has always said you only need about 1000 miles of wall.
When?
there is a fence around the Capitol builing
And around:
NYC mayor De Blasio also built a fence to add a stronger barricade than the existing wall around Gracie Mansion, his mayoral home:
Don't we hear all the time about people jumping it?
Not "all the time", but there have been a few breaches. Are you trying to compare a few people getting over the WH fence - which is less than 15 feet high - over decades ... with tens of thousands of illegal aliens breaching our southern border in one year?
Whatever your point is, it's not going to fly.
My point is pretty simple. If a 15 foot fence around the building that houses the leader of the free world in the middle of one of the most heavily watched places in the world isn't enough to keep a few people out over decades, then what makes you think a wall, however high, is going to keep out tens or hundreds of thousands of people annually? Especially when much of it will be located in remote areas?
Do we have people able to respond within seconds to every inch of the border? [Deleted]
Have a rancher build a fence around their water supply and block their livestock from it.
Yes it is the governments job to protect him and his property from foreign invaders
Is there a foreign army on the border?
Ask the Tijuana mayor and the citizens of his city. BTW - there's another caravan being assembled south of Mexico as I type this. Buckle up!
Why? What does the Pentagon have to say? I really don't care about the mayor of Tijuana's opinion when it comes to the threat of an invasion.
Okay?
Sounds like a law enforcement issue. I fail to see where it would involve the pentagon as a national security emergency.
Really?! The Mexican Army is running dope across our borders? Well holy shit, this is news, wonder why no one has mentioned it...
Eh, not really. The vast majority of dope is sent through checkpoints. Way more convenient and you can move a lot more. Really just smart business.
I have a serious problem with the US military being used for civilian law enforcement.
No one has attacked us, well no nation, since WW2. And wait, were we not defending America in Iraq and Afghanistan? Was my service meaningless?
trump has said he would go after transnational cartels but instead has gone after gangs.
According to a lot of sources once the cartels drop of shipment, they are no longer worried about low level distribution.
Chicago is a large hub of distribution.
It is also not just people involved that are from other countries. They are called transnational cartels because they have US citizens operating in sync. American citizens working with the people from other countries to move larger quantities.
They have even found cartel run grow operation inside the US. They found one in Wisconsin with 10k plants and armed guards. Some of these people settled in the states after they supposedly cooperated with the US government and/or have relatives here.
Some cartel members have US bank accounts and other dealings in the US which brings them over as well.
Some areas that some consider a war zone are actually safer than other places in the US. Lower than the national average.
I was young, I thought I was serving and protecting my country. I see things a tad bit differently now.
That is my thing now. I support some limited intervention (like supporting the Kurds and killing those fuckers in ISIS), but shit like Iraq and Afghanistan, hell no. Not unless a country directly attacks us. The cost is too great otherwise.
That's what MSM keeps spouting that their unnamed "border experts" claim.
And yet I haven't heard anything different from federal agencies. I mean Trump says otherwise, but he is the least reliable source for anything on the planet.
CNN and MSNBC will not report this, because it doesn't suit their far left, anti-Trump agenda. Please expand your knowledge through better sources.
I seem to remember the republican party was against ED (Eminent domain) since it is considered by them as government overreach.
If the administration attempts to use ED to take private land a couple of things are going to happen. It's going to cost the government a lot more money per case to get the land based on the 2006/07 ED history. The government had to pay more than they offered to start. Second, there are going to be hundreds of suits against the ED and it will take years and years to settle them. There are still around 85 case pending from 2006/07 ED.
Get some popcorn, sit back and prepare for a long drawn out battle.