[Jim W N]

Pretty tough for a rancher to have 1,000 acres full of cattle if he can’t get them to the Rio Grande to get a drink of water.

Good point. The Constitution mandates the feds prevent invasion (Art IV, Sec 4). The Necessary and Proper Clause would, therefore, allow a FAIR land purchase to build the wall, in agreement with the state to re-direct some of that water for ranching, I would think.

[21twelve]

“..allow a FAIR land purchase”

I have not read anything about reirecting the water - but that would seem to be a feasible thing to do from an engineering standpoint. (A pipe and a pump). I imagine there are a lot of water rights laws that would need to be adjusted though.

The way it is now the Feds pay for a 100’ wide swath of land or whatever and prevent access to the river. Which makes the other thousands of acres worthless to the rancher.

Cruz addresses some of that with increased numbers of Border patrols, drones, remote sensing, etc. where a fence/wall is not feasible.

[Mollypitcher1]

I agree.