The controversial governor of Arizona’s plan to construct a wall made of shipping containers along the US-Mexico border is facing growing opposition.
Governor Doug Ducey is erecting the temporary wall in his final months in office.
Construction started early this year, according to Mr. Ducey, in an effort to “secure” the border.
According to critics, the project trespasses on federal and tribal grounds.
Work crews working along Arizona’s eastern border with Mexico have been making headway on the barrier, which is made up of double-stacked shipping containers and razor wire, with only a few weeks left before Mr. Ducey leaves office.
Days of demonstrations by environmental organizations, who contend that the barrier endangers local wildlife and natural water systems, have recently stalled that development.
Arizona’s governor is creating a border wall with shipping containers#IllegalImmigration #BorderCrisis #Arizona #Border #ArizonaBorder pic.twitter.com/OqWx2Hb6TZ
— Harish Deshmukh (@DeshmukhHarish9) December 13, 2022
Katie Hobbs, the incoming governor, has not yet decided what to do with the containers.
Sheriff David Hathaway of Santa Cruz Jurisdiction, Arizona, stated that if construction workers for the fence enter his county, he will arrest them.
According to Mr. Hathaway, who spoke to local news outlet Fox 10, “the location where they’re placing the containers is fully on federal land, on the national forest.”
“This [is] illegal behavior,” the federal government has said. “It’s not state land, it’s not private land.”
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has been contacted by the BBC for comment.
Nevertheless, the nearby Cochise county sheriff, who stated in a statement that he believes the proposal will “deter crime and reduce illegal behavior,” supports it.
State officials have been told to stop the work after federal agencies declared the barrier to be illegal.
As a result, Mr. Ducey filed a lawsuit in late October, arguing that the state has the authority to do anything to stop an “unprecedented crisis” in which “countless migrants” are crossing the border.
The complaint claims that “the outcome is a combination of drug, crime, and humanitarian concerns the state has never encountered at such a considerable magnitude.”
In order to get the lawsuit dismissed, the federal government is requesting it.
Although the incoming governor, Ms. Hobbs, has opposed the barrier, it is unknown if she intends to get the containers removed after taking office on January 5.
She had earlier stated that the containers would be reused to build cheap housing alternatives for low-income individuals, but last week she cautioned that she “doesn’t know how much it would cost to remove the containers and what the cost will be” and that she was looking at all options.
The discussion of Mr. Ducey’s border wall is taking place while record numbers of migrants are crossing the US-Mexico border.
A total of 2.38 million migrants were apprehended at the border in the fiscal year 2022 that ended in September, a 37% rise from the previous year.
The Biden administration’s handling of what some have referred to as a migrant “crisis” has drawn strong criticism from officials in a number of states with predominately Republican leadership.
Three states—Texas, Arizona, and Florida—announced measures earlier this year to transfer migrants to Democratic-led states that they claim are “sanctuary” jurisdictions that don’t enforce immigration laws.
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