Abrogation of Public Trust in the Protected Lands of the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

The Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley’s (LGRV) protected lands are at risk from the construction of President Trump’s border wall. The Real ID Act of 2005 granted the executive branch unprecedented power to waive any law that interferes with border security infrastructure, while the Secure Fence Act of 2006 mandated 700 miles of barrier along the U.S.–Mexico border. The Trump administration has issued waivers that circumvent 28 federal environmental laws in the LRGV. Land governance in these protected lands has been altered to accommodate increased security operations and infrastructure. We are interested in how the state resolves internal contradictions between environmental stewardship and border security. Our research utilizes ethnographic field research and document analysis methods. Based on our analysis, we conceptualize abrogation as a tactic of state power that removes the legal responsibility of the state; yet, still compels the state to legitimate its actions.

Keywords:

• Abrogation
• militarization
• protected lands
• public trust
• state theory
• U.S.–Mexico border