Private Property and Private Walls

While property owners in Texas are fighting the federal government’s attempts to seize their property to build a border wall, a legislator in Arizona has proposed a bill that would exempt property owners from building codes if they choose to build a wall on their own property. While the Texas Institute for Property Rights opposes a border wall, it completely supports the right of property owners to build a wall on their own land.

The right to property means the freedom to create, attain, use, keep, and trade material values. Property owners have a moral right to use their property as they choose, so long as they do not infringe on the freedom of other property owners to do the same. Building a barrier on one’s property to prevent unwelcome entry, does not inherently violate anyone’s rights. This is true whether one builds a fence around one’s yard or a wall.

But this has not stopped some government officials in Arizona from opposing the proposed bill.

Yuma County Supervisor Tony Reyes called the proposal “pretty dumb.” He said he was concerned about “that liability issue about building something without a permit without anybody checking, making sure that the public is protected.”

The question, Reyes said, is what happens if the structure falls.

“This is not a property rights issue,” he said. “It’s a health and safety issue.”

Reyes claims to be concerned about protecting “the public.” But “the public” does not breach barriers on private property. Trespassers do. Whether those trespassers are immigrants from Mexico or Anglo Americans is irrelevant. And trespassers, like all criminals, must be held responsible for their actions.

We will not always agree with how others choose to use their property. But if we want the freedom to use our land as we choose, then we must support and defend the freedom of others to do the same.