Texans divided on Trump's proposed border wall: "It's very frustrating"
President Trump is taking his border wall campaign to southern Texas on Thursday after the newest talks to end the partial government shutdown fell apart. The wall he wants built in Texas will not only leave the land divided, but also the people.
On one side of the debate, CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal spoke to a border patrol agent who is working while not getting paid because of the shutdown. He agrees with the president's plan for a wall. She also spoke to a family who lives along the Rio Grande Valley. They said they're ready to fight back to keep a wall from ripping through their land.
Baudilia Rodriguez grew up on the property her grandmother bought more than 60 years ago, sitting along the Rio Grande.
"That's Mexico right across. We saw people coming over. It was people that were good people, it was people seeking asylum for their children," Rodriguez said. But now the roughly 64-acre stretch of land that could soon be in the path of Mr. Trump's border wall. We saw a border patrol helicopter fly over their land, which Rodriguez said now happens regularly.
Her brother and sister own the land now. They rent some of the property to tenants who have built small houses and trailers here.
"Those 65 acres I have tenants that pay me on a yearly basis," Jose Alfredo Cavazos said. That's how he makes his income, he said, but the family fears the wall will drive them away.
"It's very frustrating," Rodriguez said, choking up with emotion. "Because they'll lose everything."
The family's property is located within a 104-mile stretch of land where the government is planning to build a wall. The government could use a process known as eminent domain to seize the land – with compensation – from private owners like Rodriguez's brother.
He argues the wall won't stop people from illegally crossing.
"It won't help, people are still desperate. When you are desperate, you'll do anything," Cavazos said.
Chris Cabrera is a 17-year border patrol veteran who's on the front lines working without pay. He supports Mr. Trump's wall.
"We need border security. We do. And part of that border security is a barrier," Cabrera said. "Anytime you build anything in the United States, when you build a highway, it goes through people's land. I mean that's just how it works."
The Texas Civil Rights Project is representing the family in Mission, Texas, and others fighting the government's push to take part of their private land to build the wall. The family has not received an offer yet, but they say no money is worth tearing apart their home.
