Donald Trump’s administration seeks to seize seven acres of state trust land along the US-Mexico border in New Mexico. The federal action has escalated a dispute after state officials rejected an earlier attempt to purchase the property.
The New Mexico State Land Office said the White House had informed them of plans to take control of the area, which is located along the international boundary. State officials had previously rejected Washington’s offer to buy the land, prompting the latest move, which could set up a legal confrontation between state and federal authorities.
Unauthorized use of trust land
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said the pushback comes after what she said as years of unauthorized use of state trust land in Luna and Doña Ana counties. The commissioner sharply criticized the administration’s actions. She described the planned seizure as a ” historic overreach ” and warned of its impact on public school funding, which relies in part on revenues generated from trust lands.
Garcia Richard said she is now reviewing possible legal remedies to challenge the move. “I do not take this brazen seizure of New Mexico’s lands lightly,” she said. Her office has been exploring “all forms of recourse” available to resist the federal action, she added.
Not the first
Garcia Richard isn’t the first land commissioner to clash with Washington over border projects. In 2018, her predecessor, Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, planted a “no trespassing” sign after federal agents built a road and fencing without securing a right‑of‑way — a flashpoint during Trump’s first term.
“Border security is important, but so are our kids; and they have a right to collect the money earned from the lands they own,” Dunn said then.
Both Dunn and Garcia Richard raised alarms with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over trust lands in Luna and Doña Ana counties. The federal government set up steel bollards, fencing, roads, and equipment depots, without proper clearance.
The White House has yet to publicly detail the legal basis or timeline for the planned seizure of the state trust land.