Texas Spanish & Mexican Land Grants
Assembly of Spanish & Mexican Land Grant Heirs for Political Action
34259 Quail Drive San Benito Texas 78586
An Open Letter To The Following Texas Public Officials:
Governor, Honorable Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor, Honorable Dan Patrick, Attorney General, Honorable Ken Paxton,
Comptroller of Public Accounts, Honorable Glenn Hagar, Commissioner of General Land Office, Honorable George P. Bush,
Commissioner of Agriculture, Honorable Sid Miller, Commissioner Railroad Commission of Texas, Honorable Wayne Christian,
Commissioner Railroad Commission of Texas, Honorable Christi Craddick, Commissioner Railroad Commission of Texas, Honorable Ryan Sutton, Chief Justice Supreme Court of Texas, Honorable Nathan L. Hecht, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-2, Honorable Don R. Willett,
Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-3, Honorable Debra Ledermann, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-4, Honorable John Devine,
Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-5, Honorable Paul Green, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-6, Honorable Jeff Brown, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-7, Honorable Jeffrey S. Boyd, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-8, Honorable Phil Johnson, Justice Supreme Court Texas P1-9, Honorable Eva M. Guzman, Joe Straus Speaker of the House
Subject: Spanish and Mexican Land Grant Issues
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
Regarding the longstanding controversy concerning illegal seizure of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants by the State of Texas, your attention is respectfully requested. Demand for action among Texas citizens affected by this injustice is progressively increasing. Driven by clear understanding of the precedent offered by past litigations, this historic travesty of justice is gaining momentous racial overtones. Multitudes of Texans believe that the primary motivation behind the state’s inaction stems from the fact that most land grants were Hispanic owned. Your sensible response could avert serious legal consequences for the state once the growing population of affected citizens reaches political solvency. It truly makes good sense to expedite examination of this issue with an open mind and judicious consideration. A proper example of this impropriety is the opinion of Justice Scalia … included herein for your recognition.
Judge Scalia’s (land issue) opinion of the ADR in 1986, U.S. Federal District Court:
" I want to make it clear that I read the holding of the opinion as limited by responsive to the precise and highly unique case before us. In particular, I do not read the opinion to hold that in a contemporary setting the United States Government can unlawfully expropriate property legitimately owned by aliens' property rights without compensation or consideration, and then totally avoid responsibility under our Constitution or other applicable laws of Nations. We have no occasion to consider such a situation here and we express no review on its legality”. AFFIRMED. THE SUPREME COURT DENIED AN APPLICATION FOR CERTIORARI WITHOUT GIVING AN OPINION (470 U.S. 1501; 1055C; 1751).
Surviving families of Spanish and Mexican Land Grant Owners, lying between the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers, are disparaged when referred to as “aliens”. Existing long before Texas became a state, and populated by a society governed by laws of nations, said Land Grant Owners properly possessed title and well-documented meets and bounds identifying each grant. Texas was non-existent then and subsequently held no right to confiscate those lands at any time, nor for any reason thereafter.
Furthermore, the documented murders and crimes committed by Texas Rangers under the Administration of Governor James E. Ferguson, the 26th Governor of Texas, among others, which unlawfully displaced Hispanic Land Grantees from their lands, remain unresolved. Perhaps most unsettling, while Governor James E. Ferguson, on 1917 was impeached and removed from office on nine of twenty-one counts of unlawful acts, as substantiated by the Texas Senate, none of the charges included the horrific crimes he ordered against Hispanic landowners. Hence, the undersigned organizations are poised to begin organizing the law-abiding population of Texas to remedy these illegalities. Your action(s) to remedy this controversy with fair and equitable adjudication could encourage this burgeoning Hispanic population to serve a better purpose for Texas. Otherwise, if forced to defend its racial equality, this Hispanic movement would be most inclined to adopt an impartial mode. It is the desire of all undersigned to apply this political energy to a better Texas. We therefore respectfully request your attention and support to the resolution of this important issue. Specifically, the Texas Legislature should presently implement the following “Suggested Considerations for Resolution”:
1. Create a commission to examine and legally resolve the following:
a. Crimes committed against Land Grant Families from the mid-1800s to the early 1920s, and dispense a judicious amount of collateral damage compensation for those harmed.
b. Study mineral rights of heirs of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants and judiciously compensate those harmed ... under the same means used in “a” above.
c. Investigate Treaty of Guadalupe Articles violated by Texas, the United State, and Mexico … and correct errors and omissions in lands confiscated from Spanish and Mexican families by the same measures taken in “a” above.
d. Investigate U.S. Constitutional rights denied to Land Grant Heirs and correct by the same means taken in “a” above.
e. Investigate and correct by means taken in “a” above, injustices of Court Judgements of Land Grant conflicts.
f. Investigate & audit financial dispositions by the Texas Comptroller, of Oil Company monies surrendered to wrong parties as opposed to legal beneficiaries of Land Grantees.
g. Develop a proper fiscal institutional venue to compensate Land Grant Heirs for past & future improper withholdings of any values retained or wrongfully distributed b...
