Photo: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty
The Cavazos family had beenfighting for 6.5-acres of propertyalong the Rio Grande since 2018, when the Trump administration was claiming privately owned land to fulfill the former president’s signature campaign promise to secure the border with a wall.
President Joe Bidenpledged to halt expansionof a border wall, calling it a “waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security” in aproclamation on the first day of his presidency.
Now the Biden administration has agreed to return the land to the family,CNN reports.
A portion of Donald Trump’s uncompleted border wall in Arizona.Micah Garen/Getty
The Cavazos have held property along the Rio Grande since the 1760s,according to theWashington Post.
TheTexas Civil Rights Project, who represents a member of the Cavazos family, declared victory on Tuesday.
“Our client, Eloisa Cavazos, has just had her land returned to her after fighting against the government’s seizure and border wall construction since 2018,” the groupsaid in a Tweet. “Now that we have successfully stopped the construction of a needless and wasteful border wall on their property, Ms. Cavazos and her family will be able to continue their quiet and fulfilling life beside the Rio Grande.”
Cavazos expressed her gratitude for family members and advocates' “tireless efforts through the process of redeeming our family’s land these past four years resulting in this unbelievably positive outcome,” she said in a statement given to CNN. “I am deeply grateful to everyone who has been involved in this undertaking.”
source: people.com
