Dear Representative Gohmert, Economic development is something that has been going on since the beginning of time. Economic development requires both secure property rights and the ability to reacollate property in response to technological and other changes (Lamoreaux, 2011, p. 1). Hi, I attend Kilgore College, where I am currently enrolled in federal government class. I am writing you today to address the ongoing problems involving eminent domain. Recently, the wall has been under construction and taking land of owners and natural habitats of surrounding livestock. It is my personal belief that the government shall always take into consideration the humans rights and ownership of property, and the habitats of wild animals. Instead of thinking about these things, the government will plow through peoples and animals homes, land, and rights. The government will make a “fair” offer to buy the land; if the owner doesn’t want to sell, they will be taken to court for trial to seize the land. One way or another it will happen. This is the law.
In a current case involving eminent domain, the government has launched it most aggressive seizure of private land in decades. The building of the wall in the Rio Grande Valley has resulted in more than 360 eminent domain lawsuits involving thousands of acres of land. In most cases, in government has given the owners of the land low-level offers based on false appraisals. The government took advantage of those who had now money and gave them lowball offers. They knew these people were too poor to take them to court and would take whatever they could. On the other hand, the people who were wealthier and were given the same offers and were later taken to court. On average, they tripled the opening bids of Homeland Security. The government admitted that this was happening but did little about this problem. Still, nearly a decade later, landowners still remain tangled up in lawsuits. Yet, the government has already taken their land and started the construction(Miller, Collier, & Aguilar, 2017).
Simillary, approximately four miles down the road from my house, a brand new road connecting small town White Oak Tx to Longview. George Richey, a road straight through the habitats of local deer, hogs, and birds is the new hotspot making a normal twenty minute drive into a short twelve minute drive to Longview. This five lane road has a speed limit of only 50mph. Many people were shocked to see the speed limit so low. Driving down the road and seeing deer on the side of the road dead, people soon found out this was the cause of the low speed limit. The deer were not used to having this road in the middle of their home. This is just one case that I’ve experienced, but I can’t imagine how many more are just like this all around the world. Eminent domain is a problem that a lot of people face daily. Some go without jobs because of the land taken from them, or homeless because their house was taken away. This is a bigger problem than most people think. This is happening right down the road from where you live everyday. By working out the flaws in this law, people and animals can live better lives and not have to worry about someone knocking on their door at any given time.
