President Donald Trump's budget blueprint, unveiled last week, includes funding for a squadron of 20 Justice Department lawyers dedicated to land disputes. Government has the power to force landowners to sell property for public use, through a process called eminent domain.

"This is the government doing what it has to do to protect its borders," said White House press secretary Sean Spicer, asked by The Dallas Morning News to explain the rationale behind the plan. "There's nobody in America, and I daresay the world, that didn't believe that the president was committed to building a wall. We're going to take the steps needed to fulfill that promise."

Protecting private property rights against government incursion is a hot-button issue for many of the same conservatives who also worry about border security. In Texas, politicians in both parties resist the idea of a full-length border wall, calling it far too costly compared with more high-tech solutions.

The prospect of hostile fights over parcels near the border makes the project especially worrisome.