By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Val Verde County landowners whose properties were damaged by persons who entered
the country illegally are being urged to take advantage of a landowner compensation
assistance program.
Val Verde County Commissioners Court heard a presentation on the program during its
most recent meeting on June 4.
James Cave introduced himself to the court as a project lead for the landowner
compensation assistance program, being offered through the Texas Attorney
General’s Office.
Cave told the court, “What this is, what we’ve got going, is independent. We work with
our border prosecution unit, but what we’ve got going is independent. This (program) is
here to help landowners, those who have suffered from border crimes. Ultimately, what
this is, we have started working with the (Texas) Attorney General’s Office and their land
operation, their landowners compensation program.
“They have put together a large amount of money to help these landowners that are
around these border towns get reimbursed for the damage that was caused by these border
crimes, and I’ve got to tell you now, for some of these landowners, it is a hassle. It’s a
hassle to go to these programs and get any of the information they need, to take time out
of their day to work with that program, so what we want to do is come in and streamline
this for them.
“We wanted to make this much easier. We’re pretty much taking all the weight off their
shoulders. We’re getting all the information, we’re getting all the pictures. We’re talking
to the sheriff’s office. We’ve been talking to the district attorneys. We’ve already had
meeting with the landowners compensation program. . . We had a two-hour-long
meeting, and they walked us through the whole program and told us exactly what we
need to do, and right now, as of this day, with Kinney County, we have over 20
landowners ready for us to submit their claims,” Cave said.
He said his group has already completed one claim and noted, “It can be a lengthy
process, but every single day, we’re trying to get through and make it faster.”
“Ultimately, the idea is that we get these landowners on board. What we want to do is
spread this as far as we can, to every county surrounding the border towns. Right now,
it’s small, of course, as it starts, but as we go on, it’s going to increase, hopefully. Our
plan is to help them out in any way possible,” Cave said.
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. added, “If you’re a landowner, and you’ve been
impacted in regards to illegal immigration, they’ve done something to your property, this
is a group that will help you sort of ‘wade through the water’ to get try to get your funds.
They’ll help you with that process.
“The state of Texas has actually set aside funds for this, so this is a group that will help
individual citizens within the county try to recoup some of the funds for the damages that
were caused. We’re going to put a link on our web site, and then we’ll get some information out to the general public and we’ll put an item on the agenda to have you
come back. . . That way you can give us more details,” the county judge added.
Owens said the court could not have a question-and-answer session with Cave and his
team since the information was not an agenda item, but was presented during the citizen
comments portion of the meeting.
Owens reiterated he would put an item on the agenda of a future meeting and again asked
Cave to leave the information he wanted placed on the county’s web site.
Owens added, “Commissioner (Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus”) Flores just brought up an excellent
point: This service doesn’t cost the landowners a dime.”
Cave added, “Yes, that’s right. It’s free of charge. We’re just here to help.”
Cave left a number of pamphlets explaining the program in more detail with members of
the court and other county elected officials.
According to the pamphlet: “Many people around the world are landowners, but a rare
few suffer from the same problems that arise when living in a border town. Due to the
increase in illegal immigration, border crimes have skyrocketed. This has led to border
crossers causing damage to landowners’ property, from a cut fence to a barn being run
through by a vehicle fleeing law enforcement. No damage is too big or too small.”
The pamphlet also explains there are a few requirements that must be met for landowners
to participate in the program.
Among those requirements: property damage must have taken place after Sept. 1, 2021;
the landowner having not already received compensation from personal insurance or
other third-party programs and a police report having been submitted by law enforcement
in regards to the crime, as well as a few others.
Property owners whose fences were damaged must be able to show how many feet of
fence was damaged, the type of fence material, whether or not the fence is shared with a
neighboring property owner and how the damage was assessed.
Local landowners can find out more about the program at the following web address:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/crime-victims/landowner-compensation-program
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com .
