There’s a solid group of people in America right now who can be defined as ‘Trump voters who aren’t happy with Trump actions‘.
It’s probably quite ‘media elite’ of us to say “I told you so”, no matter how good it feels. The finger of blame can be pointed at any number of people, including the Democrats (for running a highly unpopular candidate), the media (for reporting on every dumb thing Trump said, which is almost all of it, like it was prime time entertainment), the honest-to-god racists, deadshits, and Pepe meme creators who populate ‘The_Donald‘ subreddit, and, in all likelihood, Russia.
And right now, a lot of those unhappy Trump voters are in Texas, a state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump but also happens to share 2,018km of border with Mexico.
A CNN investigation into the proposed wall has found that thousands of people will be forced into one of three unattractive options, by the mere fact that they live along the proposed wall: sell their property at a ‘fair market value’, find themselves on the Mexican side of the wall, or become locked in a costly legal battle that could still be going a full decade later.
How do they know this? Because it’s happened before.
Contrary to the general vibe created that by Trump’s repeated phrase that he’s gonna “build that wall”, the border between the United States and Mexico isn’t a free-for-all.
In Texas, a wall was built along parts of the border a full ten years ago. At the time, a full 442 lawsuits were filed by the US government against American property owners, who were either trying to keep their land or get more money for it. CNN’s investigation found that most of those landowners lost their court battle, and 93 of them are still going.
One couple, Ray and D’Ann Loop, had almost their entire farmland – including their house – cut off from the rest of America by ending up on the wrong side of the border wall.
Technically, it’s still in the US, because the border wall doesn’t exactly follow the actual border, but there’s still “a feeling of isolation” when you punch in your code and enter the fence, said Ray Loop.
And another woman CNN spoke to, Pat Bell, herself a Trump voter but who says she never agreed with his wall rhetoric, says she’s prepared to take legal action.
“Absolutely I would go to the people who are in charge and, you hate to say I would get a lawyer, but if it comes to that issue, you would,” she said.
Watch the full segment below.
Photo: CNN.
