By Katabella Roberts
Arizona has forged ahead with erecting a shipping container barrier along the Arizona-Mexico border in an effort to close the gaps, despite the Biden administrationâs attempts to prevent the state from doing so.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, announced that the state is moving forward with the project, which will costs an estimated $95 million, on Twitter on Monday.
âOn Friday, we committed to moving forward with our Border Barrier Missionâundeterred by the Biden adminâs efforts to reverse our progress. Today, we continued to follow through on our promise to add physical barriers to the border where possible,â Ducey wrote.
The border barrier is set to be erected along a 10-mile stretch of land in Cochise County, where there is currently no border wall. Ducey said it will take approximately 2,770 containers to fill in the gaps across âextremely rugged terrainâ but that the state is âdetermined to fill the gapâliterally.â
Ducey took aim at Bidenâs failed border policies that many experts and Republican lawmakers believe have resulted in an increase in illegal immigrants attempting to enter the United States.
âPublic Safety Crisisâ
âThe unresolved border and public safety crisis caused by the Biden admin continuesâin Arizona, we donât stand idly by when our citizens need us most,â Ducey wrote. âArizona isnât afraid of a challenge. We will not back down. We will protect our state.â
Duceyâs âBorder Barrier Missionâ comes despite an ongoing standoff with the Biden administration regarding Arizonaâs refusal to remove over a hundred double-stacked shipping containers it placed along the border in Yuma County, including 80 wire-reinforced containers that were placed on bureau lands and 42 on Cocopah Indian Tribe lands.
In a letter to Arizona Homeland Security Director Tim Roemer and Arizona Division of Emergency Management Director Allen Clark on Oct. 13, the U.S. Department of the Interior claimed that the 122 containers that were sitting within its lands were a violation of U.S. law, were âharming federal lands,â and were âimpeding reclamationâs ability to perform its mission.â
The letter also stated that Arizona should not place any new containers along the border because U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been awarded a contract to close two gaps in the border barrier near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma, which is Arizonaâs busiest illegal border crossing area.
Yet in a responding letter on Oct. 18, Clark denied those claims and refused to remove the containers as the state battles with an influx of illegal aliens.
âCriminal And Humanitarian Crisesâ
âThe myriad of federal agencies that claim jurisdiction on the southern border but do nothing to prevent the public nuisance caused by illegal immigration and criminal activity that exploits the open border is quite frustrating,â Clark wrote in the letter.
âYour letter incorrectly claims Arizona has trespassed against the United States,â he continued. âThe State of Arizona is committed to working with all of our federal partners, including the BOR, to ensure the security of our state and protection of public and private lands ⊠However to date, Arizona has not seen any action by the federal government to do so and was therefore required to take its own action.â
Ducey filed a lawsuit (pdf) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on Friday asking that the court affirm the stateâs right to defend itself, citing an âunprecedented crisisâ that has arisen in Arizona and âthat is the creation of the federal government.â
The lawsuit asks that the court grant that the state has the âconstitutional authority to take immediate temporary steps to stem the imminent danger of criminal and humanitarian crises related to the Arizona border.â
âCountless migrants are crossing unsecured areas of the border illegally,â the lawsuit states. âThe result is a mix of drug, crime, and humanitarian issues the State has never experienced at such a significant magnitude, resulting in the State bearing the burden of the federal governmentâs inaction.â