OBP005591

From: (b) (6)

To: (b) (6)

Subject: Tamez Case

Date: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:06:22 AM

FYI

(b) (6)
Secure Border Initiative
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(b) (6)
For more information about the Secure Border Initiative, visit www.cbp.gov/sbi or contact us at SBI info@dhs.gov.

March 21, 2008, 10:45PM

Government files evidence in border fence suit
Attorneys say affidavits demonstrate attempts to negotiate with landowner

By LYNN BREZOSKY
San Antonio Express-news

BROWNSVILLE — Just in time for a federal judge's deadline, the government on Friday
filed what representatives said is proof that attempts were made to negotiate with a
landowner to acquire land needed for the border fence.

Affidavits signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Aiman and Hyla Head, chief of the real
estate division for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth, show contact attempts
dating back to the summer of 2007 that they say show the government did its part to
negotiate with University of Texas-Brownsville Professor Eloisa Tamez.

Government attorneys said they would file additional documentation Monday.

Tamez was among dozens of landowners the government sued after being denied access to
survey for the border fence.

She was the first to counter-sue, saying the government's use of the "declaration of taking"
act meant the government was essentially seizing the land without first negotiating with
landowners.

A December provision to the federal budget bill amended the 2006 Secure Fence Act to
require consultation with landowners and localities affected by the fence.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled March 7 that the government had a right to enter the
land for preliminary surveying.

But he ordered that it provide proof it had negotiated for that access with Tamez.

Aiman's affidavit describes an exchange of letters, e-mail and voicemail with Tamez attorney
Peter Schey beginning March 11 and continuing until Friday.

Head's account starts with Border Patrol agents first telephoning Tamez in the summer of
2007.
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More calls were made in October and November.

Each time she was reached, Tamez said she was opposed to the fence, Head wrote.

Schey said Friday there had been some productive dialogue since Hanen's ruling, but that the
government still "screwed up."

"The federal law clearly says — indeed the Tamez order agrees — that the statute clearly
says they have to negotiate before they commence a condemnation proceeding. Here, they
did not do that," he said. "They're starting to negotiate after the judge's order."

"Whether you agree on the wall or not," Schey said, "I think we all agree it should not be
built on a foundation made up of a series of unlawful actions."

Said Tamez: "We acknowledge they made phone calls and all that, but negotiation is
definitely more than just making phone calls."

Schey said he planned to file a motion to dismiss the government's lawsuit.

He said he had just filed an amended complaint to include clients who had been
"hoodwinked" into signing waivers for land entry before the Tamez decision.

A Department of Justice spokesman had no further comment, saying the court papers spoke
for themselves.