This was Texas living, the Afghanistan war veteran thought, not the thin-walled apartment and constant din that aggravated the emotional scars of his work providing security for Air Force operations. Castillo and his wife bought the home using military benefits and grew their family into their new neighborhood – about half a mile from a bend in the Rio Grande, near where it ends its journey through mountains and deserts and the valley, spilling into a sandy delta at the sea.

They never imagined a border wall could dissect their property someday. But the first letter, stamped with an official government seal, arrived about a year ago. Their neighbors, the Carrascos and Trevinos, got them too.

The United States wanted permission to enter and survey their land – three homes targeted in two neighboring U-shaped Texas subdivisions – in preparation for construction of the Trump administration’s new border wall system.

“We were astonished,” Castillo said, noting that the government letter basically sought unlimited access to his family land with no preclusions. His wife, Yvette Arroyo, threw the first letter away, but the lawsuit that came next was a bit more intimidating. “We were like, ‘Hell no!’ We don’t like this. It’s very intrusive.”

President Donald Trump aims to build 166 miles of border barrier in Texas, almost all of it slated to go on private land that the government has yet to acquire – thousands of parcels along the river, an unknown number of them occupied by their owners, including churches and single-family homes. No new border wall has been built on private land in Texas since the president took office, but land acquisition in the Rio Grande Valley is about to enter a new phase this week, as U.S. attorneys began filing initial petitions in court while making cash offers to property owners, according to Justice Department officials with knowledge of the process.

On Friday, the federal government filed its first land acquisition case to condemn nearly 13 acres of private property in the Rio Grande Valley, a parcel near the river levee in Hidalgo County. The owner was offered $93,449 in compensation for the land.

As the government pushes to accelerate construction of what Trump has promised will be a total of 500 miles of new barrier by the end of 2020, it is families like the Castillos, Trevinos and Carrascos that are in the way. Building a wall means more than cutting through desolate desert, grassy ranchlands, shrubby wildlife preserves or old vacant lots – it also means seizing land from working families.

The fight that likely will ensue pits Texans against Trump, who has long said he wants to take whatever land he needs to build his signature promise to America. Landowners, including some who support Trump, are preparing a legal fight that could stall the wall-building effort and lead to years-long court battles over private land rights, family homes and what the Trump administration deems a critical national security issue.

So far, the Trump administration has built about 85 miles of fencing, nearly all of it replacing older structures built before the president took office in 2017. The government broke ground on new border wall in the Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 1, but it was on land the government already controls.

The president has placed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in charge of the wall project, including the acquisition of private land. Kushner has urged the Army Corps and the Justice Department to expedite the process, and more recently has directed staff to begin building a centralized database of all the privately owned parcels along the border, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the effort.

The letters landowners have been receiving are the first step in what can be a contentious process, with the government seeking “right of entry” to conduct surveys on the properties and unfettered access for 12 to 18 months. Most landowners consent at first contact and eventually sell, according to attorneys familiar with the eminent domain process.

A growing number of South Texans have not signed those letters and are facing federal lawsuits seeking access to their land. Some said in interviews they have refused to sign because they have concerns about the process or oppose the border wall project.

The Brownsville neighbors, who are no fans of the wall, ignored the letters. One family threw it away. Then came the calls, the text messages and the visits from U.S. attorneys to their work and home.

“I stopped answering the door,” said Arroyo, a teacher, of the multiple visits from lawyers, U.S. Border Patrol agents and Army personnel. “Going to battle against the federal government is not something we will win. But we are not going to take this lying down.”

Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark, of the Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division, said Congress authorized the Department of Homeland Security to acquire land, including by condemnation, “for the public purpose of protecting our nation’s international borders from such threats as terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking and illegal immigration.”

“When such takings become necessary, the government provides just compensation that is fair to both landowners and taxpayers,” he said. “When landowners disagree with the government over valuation, there is a transparent, court supervised process for determining just compensation. The vast majority of these matters are resolved without litigation.”

U.S. authorities have filed more than twice as many land-taking lawsuits in 2019 as they did in 2018, indicating that more people are objecting to the government’s use of their land. The Texas Civil Rights Project, which is representing six border property owners pro bono, said the lawsuits signal that landowners are resisting. The nonprofit organization worked closely with activists to teach landowners that they are not obligated to sign their rights away, but many of the property owners cannot afford legal representation.

“These cases are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Ricky Garza, an attorney with the civil rights organization. “We don’t know how many others are prepared to fight back.”

If a court grants the government access, surveyors enter the properties to test the soil, run hydrology studies and determine how much land they need to take for the project. Federal officials sometimes don’t return, deciding a barrier cannot be built and instead work toward installing technology such as fiber optic cables, cameras or listening devices as part of what officials call the “border wall system.”

Rocio Trevino, who owns a home in the subdivision adjacent to the Castillos and Carrascos, denied the government access to survey until they could answer basic questions about what would happen next. The Trevinos signed over rights to a vacant lot they own that also lies in the wall’s path. But the idea of giving the government access to their family home was different.

Trevino voted for Trump and agrees that the nation needs to secure the border – the family has hurricane shutters over every window and door for security – but she is exasperated by the uncertainty and unresponsiveness of the process involving her property.

“What bothered me most is every time I asked a question, the government responded with, ‘We don’t know. We don’t know,’ ” she said.

With five children and a pet horse, the family was not comfortable with strangers entering the property at any hour. The only information they have seen is a map of their tract with a red box superimposed on the slice of the backyard the Trevinos presume could be taken from them. It is adjacent to the holding pen where they keep their quarter horse, Chief, and feet from a fenced-in swimming pool.

People who support the idea of a wall “might feel like it’s good and it’ll stop illegals, but when the wall gets into your space, well, nobody wants that,” said Trevino, 39, who owns a business consulting firm. “I am well aware that things are happening around us, but this is our space and we should have a say-so in whether we want it or not.”

The ordeal has shaken Trevino’s faith in the president, and she would not say if she would vote for him again next year.

Once past the surveying stage, the government will decide how much private land to take and what to pay for it; the government is obligated to offer fair market value as it takes title to the land. Even as negotiations begin, the federal government could own the land in as little as 90 days, attorneys said.

The problem for these three middle-class American families is that despite being relatively far from the waters of the Rio Grande, their property lines are within 50 feet of an earthen levee that marks the edge of the ever-changing waterway’s flood plain.

Wall construction elsewhere in the region involved cutting into the levee to build the concrete base that anchors tall steel bollards. The design includes “enforcement zones” or roads that hug the wall and are wide enough for agents to patrol in vehicles.

Elvia Carrasco has no idea if the metal markers seven feet inside her backyard fence line means that is all contractors will need, or if the construction will run right through the middle of her home.

After years of working and living in Minnesota, Carrasco and her husband moved south, living in a recreational vehicle in Brownsville for a few years before buying a home in 2015 large enough to fit her entire family for holiday reunions.

“Imagine fitting six adults and grandchildren into an RV for Christmas,” said Carrasco, 62, laughing as she tended to the young guava, plum and lemon trees in the backyard botanical garden she has cultivated. The survey marks cuts into her garden.

The couple poured their savings and the money they earned from the sale of their other home into the down payment on their border home, and then spent tens of thousands of dollars on outdoor electricity and an aluminum shed Carrasco’s husband built as a “man cave.” Their border home is an oasis.

“Nothing happens out here,” Carrasco said. “Sometimes I spend all day outside pruning and talking to God and my flowers and plants about all this. I’m not going to let them take what we worked so hard to earn.”

Castillo and Arroyo expect their property value will drop when the barrier is built, and they have suspended all home improvement projects, trying to ignore the cracked blacktop driveway and the failing brick exterior and waiting to repair the master bathroom.

Skinny PVC pipes poke out from the ground where the couple started and stopped installing a sprinkler system. The frame of an unfinished treehouse sits hollow in the middle of the backyard. Instead, the family is saving money in case they have to move.

“We’re kind of trapped,” Castillo said, his youngest son giggling in a tree swing and his daughters feeding grass to a passing horse they dubbed Philippe after the horse in the Disney film “Beauty and the Beast.” “Why am I going to invest in my property if I’m going to have to stare out at a wall or lose it entirely? I’m leaving. I can’t stay here.”

Castillo’s ancestors settled in the Rio Grande Valley in the late 18th century as ranch hands and saddle makers. They are naturally “border people,” and more Texan than American, he said. When he moved into the home, he brought his great-grandfather’s gravestone along and placed it in the southeast corner of his yard – inches from a spray-painted wooden stake the government placed there in September. It is labeled RGV-HRL-7528-2.

He sees the effort to take his land as a betrayal of his service to the country, but he says he is trying to be realistic.

“This is what a certain majority of Americans wanted,” he said. “So because of their desire, I have to swallow it, accept it and take the hit. I guess this is service of a different kind to that America. It’s easy for them to judge; it’s not their backyard.”

At least 800,000 people, according to organizers, showed up in the same park, waving signs calling for the end of Chinese Communist Party rule and for the Hong Kong government to meet protesters’ four existing demands. The march, which was approved by authorities, was one of the biggest peaceful protests seen in the city for months and underscores the strong support that still exists for greater democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, despite a crackdown that has seen police fire over 10,000 tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and arrest some 6,000 people.

It was also an indication that increased violence by protesters that reached a peak in November has not deterred the “wo, lei, fei” – the peaceful, reasonable and nonviolent protesters – who continue to demonstrate in solidarity with the more radical front-liners.

“We want to show that the spirit of Hong Kong people is the same, that it won’t change despite all the actions done by the police and the government to stop us and suppress us,” said Mike Cheung, a 25-year old protester standing in Victoria Park waiting for the growing crowd to begin their march. “We still have hope, no matter what.”

The first weeks of November saw the protest movement reach a dangerous new level as protesters tried to hold two university campuses against police incursions, leading to a siege with huge amounts of force used by both sides. Protesters rained down petrol bombs on police, who in turn fired tear gas for hours and threatened to use live rounds against protesters.

But the movement in recent weeks scored two key victories: a resounding vote of confidence at the ballot box with pro-democracy parties winning a huge majority of seats in local elections, and the passage of a U.S. bill that would open those who restrict Hong Kong’s freedoms to sanctions.

The Hong Kong government formally withdrew in October the legislation that would allow extraditions to mainland China, a proposal which kicked off the protests back in June. But it has made no indication that it will meet any of the other demands of protesters, which include an independent investigation into police conduct and the long-held goal of direct elections for Hong Kong leaders.

A 23-year old protester, who wanted to only be referred to by her first name Violet for fear of repercussions from her employer, said she has often been discouraged by the futility of mass demonstrations like Sunday’s.

“Sometimes it almost feels like we are Sisyphus trying to push the rock up the mountain, even though it keeps rolling back on us,” Violet said. But, she added, “being here is the right thing to do.”

In contrast to the tensions that have marked protests for months, the crowd gathered in Victoria Park was almost festive, showing off artistically-designed posters portraying the flash-points over the past six months. Several groups gave out Christmas cards to attendees, asking them to write a message of support to the dozens of detained protesters who have been denied bail and are held in detention centers.

“Even though it is the festive season, we have to remember our brothers and sisters still in jail and tell them that we remember their sacrifices,” said Christine Chan, 23, as she handed out the cards and colored pens.

But by night, small groups of protesters had set up barricades in front of lines of riot police. Graffiti marked almost the entire route of the march. A few businesses perceived to be pro-Beijing and Chinese banks were vandalized, as was the territory’s High Court.

The rally was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, the same group that organized the earlier marches that drew millions of people. Ahead of the protest, CHRF urged demonstrators to remain peaceful, a hallmark of their rallies. The group said it had timed their march for international Human Rights Day on Dec. 10.

“The human rights violations and humanitarian crisis in Hong Kong and China are reaching a tipping point now,” the group said, expressing solidarity with the Muslim Uighur minority who have been placed in mass detention camps in western China. “Our rally today is to gather everyone in Hong Kong to defend our city, as well as [to advance] the international human rights movement.”

American support for the protest movement has been viewed by Beijing as a deliberate provocation, and Chinese authorities have accused “foreign actors” of stoking the flames of unrest in Hong Kong to destabilize China. On Monday, China said it would sanction U.S.-based nonprofits including the National Endowment for Democracy and Human Rights Watch in retaliation for the pro-Hong Kong legislation.

“They bear great responsibility for the current chaos in Hong Kong,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. “These organizations deserve to be sanctioned, and they must pay the price for it.”

Those statements appeared to have little connection with the scenes on Sunday, however.

By nightfall, Hong Kong people of all ages continued to make their way from the park – more than three hours after the march began – filling the streets with chants of “Five Demands, Not One Less!”

“We know that achieving democracy takes a very long time, especially since we are against the biggest dictator in the world right now,” added Violet. “But most of us have made ourselves ready for a long fight.”

The fire rescue operation took nearly four hours involving 30 fire engines and 150 personnel. The fire broke out on the second floor of the five-story building. Atul Garg, the chief of Delhi Fire Services said that cause of the fire – reported at 5:20 a.m. – was not immediately clear as the focus was on the rescue.

Images shared by local media from the accident site showed narrow corridors blackened with soot and charred remains of materials. Police officials said that most of the deceased were workers who lived in the factory, which manufactured school bags and purses. Majority of them were poor migrants from the state of Bihar.

“I saw bodies being taken in sacks,” said Sarfaraz Nabi, who runs an electrical shop nearby describing the mayhem following the fire. Police and rescue teams also carried some on their shoulders. It was a painful sight.”

Another resident, Babur Ali said locals rushed in to save people on hearing of the fire. “I went to the third floor to knock on doors but the rooms were locked from inside and people were fast asleep. We ran out of the building for our lives.”

Garg said the factory was operating in a residential area in central Delhi near Rani Jhansi Road and there were no fire safety provisions. Congested lanes and dilapidated buildings with illegal manufacturing workshops dot the area where the accident took place.

Most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation, according to Sunil Choudhary, deputy chief fire officer. “The iron gate of the building was locked from outside. The whole building became a gas chamber,” he said.Choudhary said they were looking into the possibility of a short circuit having caused the fire.

There was chaos at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital where majority of those rescued were shifted as people ran between the emergency ward and the mortuary to locate their relations. Abdul Kareem, 35, rang his relative Mohammad Shakir, a worker at the unit, multiple times after hearing of the fire before he was directed to the hospital. “We have been waiting to hear from the doctors or anyone who could at least tell us if he is alive or dead.”

Mehboob Alam, 60, was also waiting at the mortuary for news of his two nephews who worked in the factory. “My elder brother called me in the morning crying. Imran (his nephew) had called his father scared that he would not survive.” By early evening, Imran’s body was found but Alam was still searching “hopelessly,” for his other nephew.

Deadly fires are common in India, as fire safety regulations are poorly enforced and illegal construction rampant. Small factories, like the one gutted today, often operate illegally in cramped residential buildings without any safety measures in place. Earlier this year a fire at a hotel killed 17 people, prompting an outcry over fire safety measures in buildings in the capital.

Calling it a “tragic incident,” Imran Hussain, a minister in the Delhi state government, said an investigation will be conducted and action taken against those responsible. Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, visited the spot and announced compensation to the families of the victims.

Delhi witnessed its worst fire tragedy over two decades ago when a fire blazed through a movie theater during a screening, killing 59 people and injuring more than 100 others.

Over the past few days while attention has been focused on Hong Kong’s economic outlook, netizens have been drumming up support for the march which is being seen as a litmus test of the support for the anti-government movement amid a weakening economy.

The Civil Human Rights Front, the group behind some of the city’s biggest protests, is expecting a massive turnout for the procession to protect human rights. The first organised by the Front to be approved in months, the march is due to begin at 3pm at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and will proceed to Chater Garden in Central.

Responding to the planned Human Rights Day event, the government defended the city’s human rights track record, saying the public have had “unquestionable freedom of peaceful assembly, of procession and of demonstration”.

Over the past five years, Hong Kong has held about 44,000 public assemblies and 6,000 public processions – an average of about 27 such events a day, it pointed out in a statement.

Since June, there had been over 900 public demonstrations, processions and public meetings, of which many ended in violent and illegal confrontations including arson and vandalism, the government added. It said it hoped that when people expressed their views and opinions, they would do so without infringing on others’ rights and freedom.

Hong Kong police commissioner Chris Tang told the media in Beijing that police would take a “humanistic” approach to minor incidents but warned of resolute measures against violence. But he added that he hoped the march would be peaceful.

The rally will be taking place amid growing concerns about the state of the Hong Kong economy but two top city officials have offered contrasting views for the future, one more positive than the other.

Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Edward Yau said on Saturday the economy would soldier on and may pick up in 2020.

His prognosis, delivered on a local radio programme, followed Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s warning that months of protests cost the economy two percentage points last quarter.

Yau offered listeners a more upbeat view, saying the pick up in Hong Kong’s economy would ride on the back of progress in trade talks between the United States and China, and as the anti-government unrest, which has gripped the city for almost seven months, fades away.

“On the US-China trade war, I hope that we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, with the sitting down of the two leaders and the teams, hopefully we will be having some easing of that tension, which will create a better environment for us hopefully in the new year,” said Yau.

He also said dialogue between the government and society was necessary to resolve the current political crisis, adding that while the retail and tourism sectors had been badly hit, professional and financial services remained “very much intact”.

“If Hong Kong can maintain its ease of doing business, a place where we lay out a level playing field for all, a place where law and order can be maintained, I think confidence will be able to come back.

“So, we are struggling, but I think we will soldier on and we will bounce back,” Yau said.

In contrast, Chan on Monday painted a grim outlook, saying the ongoing unrest has shaved two percentage points from the economy which is already in a precarious position.

The economy has suffered a technical recession for the first time in a decade after growth contracted for two consecutive quarters, shrinking by 3.2 per cent in the third quarter from a year ago.

The slump was driven by a plunge in imports and exports, retail sales, and tourism figures as the months-long protests compounded damage from the drawn-out trade war between the US and China.

While speaking on a separate radio programme on Saturday, Chan said he would consider giving cash handouts when drawing up the 2020-2021 Budget. But he cautioned that the government would be in deficit in the coming years and had to consider fiscal policy over the long-term as the downturn could be “protracted”.

On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of pro-government supporters assembled in Wan Chai, protesting against the pan-democrats’ use of “unscrupulous means to become district councillors” and blaming the media for spreading “fake news”.

Anti-government protesters for their part gathered in Edinburgh Place in Central to show support for Indonesian domestic helper Yuli Riswati, who is also an award-winning writer. On Monday the authorities deported her for failing to extend her visa, a move her supporters alleged was politically motivated.