San Diego sues federal government over razor wire border barrier on city-owned property

The city of San Diego sued several federal agencies Monday seeking to halt construction of razor wire fencing along city-owned property near the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing that federal personnel, including U.S. Marines, trespassed on the land and caused irreparable environmental damage to sensitive habitat that’s protected by a longstanding conservation agreement between the city, state and federal government.

“The City of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage City property,” San Diego City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement Tuesday. “We are taking decisive action to protect sensitive habitats, uphold environmental commitments, and ensure that the rights and resources of our community are respected.”

According to the lawsuit, the land in question is located in the undeveloped Marron Valley area just southeast of the federally managed Otay Mountain Wilderness and is protected by a conservation agreement signed in 1997 by the city, California’s fish and wildlife agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The lawsuit asserts that last month, city personnel discovered about a dozen Marines on the property constructing “illegal and unauthorized” concertina wire fencing. The suit contends that the construction of the fencing barrier has caused property damage and “adverse environmental impacts,” including damage to plants, vernal pools and wildlife habitats for endangered and protected species.

“At no time did defendants seek or obtain the city’s consent to build the border barrier at issue,” the lawsuit alleges, claiming that the land is protected by the nearly 30-year-old pact known as the Cornerstone Lands Conservation Bank Agreement. That agreement is included as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

Among the defendants named in the suit are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the leaders of each of those agencies.

“Under the Trump Administration we have the most secure border in American history,” a DHS spokesperson told the Union-Tribune in a statement. “DHS will continue to use every tool in its toolbox to defend the American people from dangerous foreign criminals — and we look forward to challenging this lawsuit.”

A CBP spokesperson provided the same statement from DHS. The other agencies named in the suit did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, the Marines building the barrier were from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms and were constructing a “pyramid stack of three rows of concertina wire fence.” Thousands of Marines and other military personnel have been deployed at the border in a support role since shortly after President Donald Trump took office last January. Much of their work has involved using razor wire to build new barriers or reinforce existing barriers.

Last month, the Department of the Interior announced that it was transferring the jurisdiction of about 740 acres of public land in San Diego and Imperial counties to the Department of the Navy to establish a restricted military zone known as a National Defense Area, or NDA. The city’s Marron Valley property at issue in the lawsuit appears to be within or abutting the land that would make up the NDA, according to a description of the land included in that announcement.

The Marron Valley land owned by the city covers 2,600 acres and includes parts of several different rivers and creeks, including the Tijuana River, Cottonwood Creek and Tecate Creek. The 1997 agreement between the city, state and federal government to protect the Marron Valley land also protected the land surrounding three other better-known city properties — Lake Hodges, Otay Lakes and the San Vicente Reservoir.

The city’s lawsuit asserts that the Marron Valley land is environmentally sensitive and is part of the city’s Multiple Species Conservation Program that’s intended to “preserve a critical habitat and open space, protect biodiversity, and enhance the region’s quality of life.” The suit alleges that the Marines trespassing on the land produced “excessive trash” and debris. It also alleges that the defendants installed “surveillance equipment for which previously-granted permission had expired.”

The city’s suit alleges seven causes of action against the defendants, including trespass, public nuisance and several violations of the Administrative Procedures Act.

While the suit rests on the argument that the defendants trespassed on city land, the environmental aspect of the case is familiar. Several lawsuits during Trump’s first term in office challenged his border wall on environmental grounds. And in 2023, the Biden administration settled several lawsuits related to border wall construction in part by agreeing to pay $25 million to the state of California for conservation projects in southern San Diego County.

The city’s lawsuit filed Monday seeks an injunction “ordering all Defendants to cease and desist from any further construction of fencing, walls, surveillance equipment, or other similar activities on city property in Marron Valley.”

It also seeks a legal declaration of the city’s ownership rights of the land and a declaration that the defendant’s actions in constructing the border barrier on the land are unconstitutional.