February 16, 2023 by Nesibe Selma
DHS Agrees to Review Complaint Against City of Freeport, TX and Port Freeport for Title VI Violations of the Civil Rights Act
Updated February 15, 2023
Freeport, TX – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is evaluating the complaint submitted by Lone Star Legal Aid on behalf of residents living in the East End of Freeport, Texas in November 2017. The administrative complaint alleges violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Port Freeport and the City of Freeport.
CRCL has determined that the DHS provides federal funding to the city of Freeport. CRCL will accordingly conduct a further investigation into whether Freeport’s East End residents have been discriminated against on the basis of race or national origin in violation of Title VI.
Manning Rollerson grew up in an East End house owned by his grandmother in the sixties. The East End neighborhood of Freeport, Texas, formerly known as the “Negro reservation,” was a designated portion of the community reserved for African American residents. His children, however, have no future in the East End.
The Rollerson residence was one of the many houses (and buildings) that have been possessed, demolished, or sold to the navigation district, Port Freeport (“Port”). Over the past decade, the Port has been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a project to improve the Freeport Harbor Channel. This expansion would allow the accommodation of cargo ships and a relationship with massive corporations. To facilitate this improvement, the Port has acquired East End properties with the goal of eventually owning the entire neighborhood.
Rollerson says residents have been threatened, manipulated, and forced to sell their land to the Port. Residents also believe the Port has conspired with city officials to deny building permits and keep property values low. Of the residences the Port has successfully bought, many have been defaced or destroyed, slowly but surely pressing the remaining residents to sell and leave their community.
With the help of Lone Star Legal Aid, Mr. Rollerson and other residents who have no interest in selling – or losing – their land, filed the administrative complaint against the City of Freeport and Port Freeport, claiming discrimination under Title VI in late 2017. Title VI Act states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation·in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
For the past four years, Mr. Rollerson has held onto his grandmother’s deed, refusing the Port’s offer to buy him out at a price significantly lower than the property’s value. In October 2020, Port officials voted to use eminent domain to acquire the land. This process removes the landowner’s choice to sell and instead forces them to settle for a price. In 2021, the Port filed a condemnation petition against the Rollerson family property, and a jury may have to determine the fair market price of the property.
“Though the soul of the neighborhood has been collateral damage in this expansion, the residents of East End are seeking federal protection from its discriminatory impacts and to be treated fairly,” says Amy Dinn, Managing Attorney of LSLA’s Environmental Justice Team.
When the federal government refused to accept jurisdiction over the November 2017 complaint, LSLA filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, seeking judicial review of its determination that it lacked jurisdiction to investigate the administrative complaint. That case went up to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled in July 2021 that the federal court had the right to review the jurisdictional decision. That ruling prompted the federal government to revisit its position on the original administrative complaint late last year.
Now more than four years after submitting the administrative complaint, Lone Star Legal Aid received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security accepting jurisdiction of the Title VI Civil Rights Complaint against the City of Freeport, Texas and Port Freeport. The claims of discrimination, coercion, and unlawful practices raised by community members will now be investigated, buying residents more time and agency in the decisions made regarding their homes.
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of Southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well-being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at https://www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
