A senior House Republican has suggested that a border rancher sue the Biden administration for how the federal government has turned his property into a dumping ground for unused border wall materials.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) advised New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson during a House Homeland Security Committee subcommittee hearing Tuesday afternoon that he ought to send the White House an invoice for leaving a field of steel beams, huge piles of gravel, and other materials in his backyard for the past 30 months.
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"Are you being compensated at all for the materials left behind, including steel and anything else?" Higgins, chairman of the subcommittee on border security and enforcement, said.
"No, sir, not compensated. And like I mentioned in my testimony, we've never been reached out to by any government entity regarding this," Johnson said. "It's always been us reaching out."
"Have you invoiced the government? I suggest that you do," Higgins said. "I'd like to see us discuss that in appropriations."
Johnson gave the Washington Examiner an exclusive tour of his property earlier this month and shared how he had been left with a nearly one-mile gap between border wall projects in his backyard. The gap is the first opening in 90 miles of 30-foot wall that runs from El Paso, Texas, to his property.
Hundreds of wall panels sit on Johnson's land, and up to four times as many panels sit on his neighbor's land.
Massive piles of rock and gravel, up to three times the size of the large congressional hearing room where the panel met, have been on his land for two and a half years.
"So that America can get an idea — this is on a man's private land, left behind by the government," Higgins said. "You're not going to clear that with a shovel."
Although Johnson said he has never heard from Washington, contractors who come and go on his property recently have shared that the government plans to haul off the leftover materials and sell them for scrap.
"My government is failing to protect this country, and the fiscal irresponsibility is appalling," Johnson said. "I traveled over 2,000 miles and left my family and business to be here today. Every time I leave, I fear for what my wife and kids may encounter because of our open border. These are fears I shouldn't have as an American living on American soil."
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Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) empathized with Johnson and said the public should not be caught in the government's affairs as he has been.
"This is real people, real businesses getting caught in the crossfire of political disagreement in Washington, D.C.," Ivey said. "I don't like having civilians get caught in the crossfire. So you know, whatever we can do to try and correct this — I'll work with whoever wants to try and make it happen."