Freeport’s East End Began in Segregation and Will End with Displacement

A federal lawsuit accuses Port Freeport of threatening residents of a minority community with eminent domain and coercing them into selling their property.

News Story (Texas)

Michael Barajas
Texas Observer
September 12, 2018
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Housing: Discrimination

Organizations mentioned/involved: Lone Star Legal Aid


DETAILS

The displacement of Freeport’s East End community is now the subject of a federal lawsuit against Port Freeport, which is controlled by a quasi-public, six-member commission elected by local navigation district voters. Port officials have said they simply acquire East End land as it goes on the market, on a “willing seller-willing buyer basis,” but lawyers with Lone Star Legal Aid claim port negotiators have threatened landowners with eminent domain and coerced them into selling their property at unfavorable terms.