BROWNSVILLE -- The U.S. government dropped its border fence condemnation lawsuit against the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College on Wednesday and agreed to explore alternatives with school officials.
The agreement was reached hours before a federal hearing was to begin.
It is no guarantee that the university's golf course and the rest of the threatened 160 acres of campus will not some day be on the Mexican side of a 15-foot fence, but the dismissal order requires the two sides work together.
The government has sued more than 50 South Texas landowners this year for temporary access to survey for the border fence. Many have sought restrictions, saying the access requested was overly broad, but the university is the first to win them.
...
Hanen has handled dozens of the border fence condemnation lawsuits. While
siding consistently with the government, he has always urged more cooperation and outreach from federal officials.
Outside the courthouse, Juliet Garcia, president of UTB-TSC, said some of her intent in rejecting government access before reaching this agreement was to "plow the field" for other property owners.
...
Under the agreement, the government wins its long-sought access to the campus for six months.
The university gets a promise from the government to explore alternatives "to a physical barrier" with the university.
Star TelegramIf the campus is now on "our" side of the fence, how will it one day be in Mexico?
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