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OBP004560

From: (b) (6)


To: (b) (6) ; (b) (6)
Subject: FW: Condemnation news article
Date: Friday, January 18, 2008 1:41:41 PM

Just for info…my kind of guy…I would follw -up with a discussion so he understands which definition of
access we are talking about! You guys rule!

From: (b) (6)


Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 1:05 PM
To: (b) (6) ; (b) (6)
Cc: (b) (6) ; (b) (6) FLOSSMAN, LOREN W; GEPHART,
GREG A; (b) (6) ; (b) (6) ; (b) (6) ; (b) (6)
; (b) (6) (b) (6)
Subject: FW: Condemnation news article

Per below article, apparently Mr. Croaff threw out the ROE letter, because he’d agreed to give access
for an earlier project and assumed the gov’t had made a mistake…

From: (b) (6)


Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 12:48 PM
To: (b) (6)
Subject: FYI

The Associated Press, Thursday, January 17, 2008

Landowner Sued by Feds Says He's Already Given


OK for Fence
PHOENIX - A southern Arizona landowner sued by the federal government this week as it tries to
access land to survey for a border fence said Thursday he'd already given permission and was
surprised he was named.

Adley Croaff is one of 11 landowners named in land condemnation suits filed in U.S. District Court in
Tucson this week.

Croaff, a 53-year-old resident of Scottsdale, owns a 2-acre plot of land in a subdivision known as
Buena Vista Ranch Estates about 10 miles east of Nogales on the U.S.-Mexico border.

He told The Associated Press that he gave written permission allowing the government to access his
land in 2006 and welcomes the border fence.

When Croaff got a second letter late in 2007, he figured it was a mistake since they already had his
OK, so he threw it away.

"They're not going to hurt anything even if they do go across it," said Croaff, whose family has owned
the land and other nearby plots since the late 1960s. "The best they can do is to keep the people out -
you know, build the fence, keep then out, because we've had this issue for years. This isn't something
new."

The suits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday and Wednesday seek temporary
condemnation of plots in the subdivision, a mainly undeveloped stretch of land along the border, to
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allow for surveys for a border fence.

Most range from less than an acre to about 3 acres, although two are multi-acre plots owned by
Canadian-based developers Alex and Donald Mills.

Tucson attorney Ronald Lehman, who represents the Mills brothers, was unavailable Thursday. He
declined comment on the suits when reached late Wednesday by the Arizona Daily Star, saying neither
he nor his clients had reviewed the suit.

None of the other landowners could be reached by The Associated Press.

The Department of Homeland Security said early this month that it planned legal action against
landowners in Arizona, Texas and California who had not given the agency permission to access or
cross their land for fence-building preparations.

Homeland Security wants to build 370 miles of fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers across the
southern border by the end of the year.

The suits filed this week seek a temporary condemnation lasting about 6 months to allow for surveys,
testing and other work, and promise some compensation to landowners.

A Homeland Security spokeswoman who was asked Thursday morning about what efforts the agency
made to contact landowners said she didn't know but would try to find out.

Croaff said there is one run-down home near his vacant plot, but the owners have had many problems
with illegal border crossers causing damage.
``There's not much down there, and you can't do much with it. The reason why is because of the
problem we have of the people crossing it,'' Croaff said. ``Every time I used to go down to the property
to check it out I'd see five or six people crossing the property, and you knew they were illegal.''

As far as Croaff is concerned, they're welcome to use his land, although he doesn't know why
Homeland Security needs it. After all, between his plot of land and the scraggly, barbed wire cattle
fence that marks the border is a well-traveled dirt road.

``I don't know why they need access, because there's a road there,'' he said.

(b) (6)
Secure Border Initiative
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(b) (6)
For more information about the Secure Border Initiative, visit www.cbp.gov/sbi or contact us at SBI_info@dhs.gov.

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