Frustrated developer says U.S. border activity crosses the line

Developer David Wick says he had big plans for thousands of acres of vacant property near the border -- until large numbers of immigrants discovered that his land was one of the easiest places to cross illegally into San Diego.

“Welcome to America,” said Wick, standing next to the rusting fence that separates his land from Tijuana. “This is the gate. It’s on my property.”

Wick wanted to build a racetrack. He says the U.S. Border Patrol got in his way by taking over more and more of his property in its efforts to crack down on crossers.

He and his real estate partner have sued the federal government, saying the agency’s strategy has been to funnel illegal immigration into his area, the open terrain of eastern San Diego where it’s easier to capture border crossers.

The lawsuit, and the government’s denial of its premise, reflect the growing friction between property owners and border authorities in the midst of fencing projects and shifts in enforcement tactics. In Texas, some homeowners and ranchers have balked at allowing surveyors to map their land so it could, perhaps, be fenced. Environmental groups in Arizona have gone to court to prevent the government from erecting fencing in an ecologically sensitive river valley.

For the San Diego developers, the issue boils down to a financial calculation. Wick says he stands behind the Border Patrol’s mission to secure America’s border, but if the government is using his land -- and preventing him from developing it -- he expects to be paid.

“If they need to use our property to do their jobs, that’s fine. But compensate us for it,” said Wick.

The 1,050 acres owned by Wick and his partner, Roque De La Fuente, lie at the eastern edge of the 14-mile border between San Diego and Tijuana, which was once the most heavily-transited immigrant corridor in the country.

The federal government by 2001 erected double fencing along most of the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, except in the canyons near the ocean, and in the foothills of Otay Mountain, where Wick planned to put his racetrack.

The property is a favored crossing point because immigrants can easily scale the 8-foot border fence, which is the only barrier. They can then make their way through the hills to roads where smugglers can pick them up and quickly drive them to urban areas.

The Border Patrol’s presence on the property is hard to miss. Agents zip by in SUVs and on all-terrain vehicles. Numerous motions sensors have been planted in the earth. Portable light towers dot the landscape.

Federal law permits Border Patrol agents to access private property within 25 miles of the border, and government attorneys point out in court documents that immigrants have been crossing in the area since the agency’s creation in 1924. That’s long before the current owners purchased the land.

In their routine patrols along the Southwest border, agents regularly deal with property owners, frequently making arrangements to open fences and pave roads on private property.

Wick acknowledges that he has given agents permission to use his property, but he said his feelings about their presence changed a few years ago when activity increased in the area.

Agents built a holding facility on his land. Detention buses crisscrossed the property and agents sped all over the place, rushing from one incident to another. Wick said it got so bad that agents ordered him off his own property.

Because of the Border Patrol’s strategy, Wick said, he has been unable to develop or lease the property.

The federal government has essentially occupied the land, so the property owners should be compensated as required by the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, said his attorney, Roger J. Marzulla. The amendment bars the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.

“Nobody can develop a piece of property that is crawling with aliens at night and Border Patrol vehicles and personnel 24 hours a day,” said Marzulla.

Wick says he has come up with his own solution to the problem. For years the Border Patrol has planned to add a secondary fence in his area, but budget constraints, among other things, have slowed the process.

If a second fence were erected, he thinks, it would stem the flow of immigrants and allow him and his partners to realize their development goals.

“We want them to finish the fence, to make it someone else’s problem,” Wick said.

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richard.marosi@latimes.com