President Trump’s Department of Justice is currently seeking to fill Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) positions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio, Texas, “to perform legal work pertaining to the establishment of the Border Wall.” (Application deadline is June 30.)
According to the job description, “If selected, the individual will be working on land condemnation matters and related cases mostly involving the border with Mexico. Duties will include owner and witness interviews, confirming land titles, property negotiations, and federal eminent domain litigation among other things.”
Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, responded on social media: “Wow. DOJ is indeed hiring attorneys whose primary job will be filing eminent domain and condemnation cases to seize private land (mostly in Texas) on which to build border wall.”
Wow. DOJ is indeed hiring attorneys whose primary job will be filing eminent domain and condemnation cases to seize private land (mostly in Texas) on which to build border wall. https://t.co/cLEJV6LlTl pic.twitter.com/a34EGdzS1W
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) June 21, 2026
Libertarian politician Ted Brown, who ran for Republican Senator John Cornyn‘s seat but also lost in the GOP primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, replied: “I hope Texans join me in opposing eminent domain and supporting the property rights of landowners at the border.”
[NOTE: According to The Big Bend Sentinel, border landowners and farmers are demanding that MAGA-aligned Texas Governor Greg Abbott meet with them and federal officials to discuss how to protect their land and river access for livestock and irrigation when approached by federal officials.]
The Texas Tribune reported last week that land owned by approximately 400 landowners in the Big Bend region has been targeted by the Trump administration and that many have received “a letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection earlier this year asking him to let contractors on his land to survey it or risk losing it through eminent domain.”