The first letter threatening Salvador Castillo's home – stamped with an official government seal – arrived about a year ago.
The Brownsville neighbours, who are no fans of the wall, ignored the letters. One family threw it away. Then came the calls, the text messages and the visits from US attorneys.
Rocio Trevino, who owns a home in the subdivision adjacent to the Castillos and Carrascos, denied the government access to survey until they could answer basic questions about what would happen next. The Trevinos signed over rights to a vacant lot they own that also lies in the wall's path, but giving the government access to their family home was different.
Once past the surveying stage, the government will decide how much private land to take and what to pay for it.Elvia Carrasco has no idea if the metal markers inside her backyard fence line means that is all contractors will need, or if the construction will run right through the middle of her home. "Nothing happens out here," Carrasco said. "Sometimes I spend all day outside pruning and talking to God and my flowers and plants about all this. I'm not going to let them take what we worked so hard to earn."Castillo and Arroyo expect their property value will drop when the barrier is built, and they have suspended all home improvement projects, trying to ignore the cracked blacktop driveway and the failing brick exterior.
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