From: (b) (6)

To: (b) (6)

Subject: Fw: SD Union-Tribune - Developer says feds devaluing property; De la Fuente brings lawsuit in D.C. court
Date: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 11:37:31 AM

I had set up the call for Chief Aguilar and Deputy Colburn with Chief's Counsel, CBP Legal (Indy) and
SDC Counsel and is to take place tomorrow. I am now traveling to Ft. Worth for the VF300 meeting and
have handed off the call to (b) (6) . This is the second article in as many days, the first was posted
in the LA Times. This needs to be settled quickly and must incorporate past/current use, BIS purchase
and Otay Mountain access.

----- Original Message -----

From: (b) (6)
To: (b) (6)
Sent: Wed Jan 02 10:38:55 2008
Subject: FW: SD Union-Tribune - Developer says feds devaluing property; De la Fuente brings lawsuit
in D.C. court

(b) (6)

Assistant Chief

Headquarters U.S. Border Patrol

(b) (6)

________________________________

From: (b) (6)

Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 10:00 AM
To: FISHER, MIKE J; (b) (6)
SELF, JEFFREY D; (b) (6)
Cc: (b) (6)
Subject: SD Union-Tribune - Developer says feds devaluing property; De la Fuente brings lawsuit in D.C.
court

FYI

________________________________

From: (b) (6)

Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 9:42 AM
To: (b) (6) AGUILAR, DAVID V; AHERN, JAYSON P; GIDDENS, GREGORY; Adams, Rowdy D;
COLBURN, RONALD S
Cc: (b) (6)
Subject: SD Union-Tribune - Developer says feds devaluing property; De la Fuente brings lawsuit in D.C.
court

Developer says feds devaluing property

De la Fuente brings lawsuit in D.C. court

By Greg Moran

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 2, 2008

OTAY MESA – For more than a decade, Otay Mesa land baron Roque de la Fuente II has been locked in
an expensive court battle with the city of San Diego, alleging that a series of city actions reduced the
value of a business park he developed.

A jury agreed with him and in 2001 awarded the developer $94.5 million in damages. In the years
since, that award has been erased by appeals from the city, and the case is back where it started, in
San Diego Superior Court.

Now, de la Fuente is raising similar issues against a different opponent – the federal government.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C., de la Fuente and business
partner David Wick contend that the construction of two border fences to curb illegal immigration has
channeled illegal immigrants onto a 96.7-acre parcel of land they own north of the border.

The lawsuit claims that for the past several years, the U.S. Border Patrol has used the property to round
up and arrest illegal immigrants.

Border Patrol vehicles speed across the property, there are sensors in the ground, and buses come on
the land to haul away the illegal immigrants, according to the lawsuit.

The increasing Border Patrol activity on the property has devalued it and amounts to an unconstitutional
“taking” of land without just compensation by the government, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2006 in a little-known federal court in Washington that hears cases
involving monetary claims against the government, such as tax refunds, property claims like de la
Fuente's and claims by contractors suing the government for breach of contract.

The property lies between Otay Mesa Road and Donovan State Prison Road and is bisected by Alta
Road. It is zoned for heavy to light industrial uses. The property is one of several contiguous parcels
owned by de la Fuente business interests.

The lawsuit focuses on the effect of border fencing the government has constructed over the past
decade. A primary fence runs along the border for 14 miles starting from the ocean.

A secondary fence about 150 feet north of the first fence also has been built, but it runs only about nine
miles east. In fact, the secondary fence ends near the property owned by de la Fuente and Wick,
according to court papers.
The incomplete fence – it is supposed to run farther east, but construction has halted – means that the
property has become an attractive crossing point for illegal immigrants, who have to surmount only one
fence.

That has led the federal government to essentially take over the land and use it as a site to round up
and deport people, the lawsuit says.

“It's the obvious weak point in the system, and everyone knows it is there,” said Roger Marzulla, the
lawyer for the landowners.

Government lawyers could not be reached for comment. But in court papers seeking to have the lawsuit
dismissed, they argue that the statute of limitations to file such an action has long expired.

They also say de la Fuente has no viable claim because federal law allows the Border Patrol access to
private property within 25 miles of the international border for the purposes of preventing illegal
immigration.

But Marzulla said that law does not allow the government to devalue private land.

“Just because the San Diego Police Department has a right to patrol your street does not mean they can
set up a command post in your living room,” he said.

Marzulla said Wick had plans to build a racetrack, while other plans called for developing it for heavy
industry. But government activity on the property has scared off potential tenants, the lawsuit said.

The landowners have not said how much they are seeking in damages, Marzulla said.

________________________________

Greg Moran: (619) 542-4586; greg.moran@uniontrib.com

<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/MAILTO:greg.moran@uniontrib.com>

Find this article at:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080102-9999-1m2land.html