Shipping container wall lawsuit dropped, locals justify blocking flood of immigrants

(The Center Square)– As the shipping containers along the southern border in Yuma, Arizona, came down months ago, the two federal cases against the state have been dismissed.

The Ducey administration placed the containers at the gaps last year and agreed with the federal government to take them down under the condition that a replacement barrier was created, The Center Square reported in December. However, the federal government took months to make progress on its own barrier, KYMA reported.

“We worked to ensure that U.S. property rights and agency missions were respected especially since the placement of the shipping containers by the State of Arizona abutted on our international border with Mexico,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a news release. “We appreciate the collective support of U.S. Attorney Restaino and his office, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture in seeing this situation through, including remediating the land where the containers were placed.”

Since then, incumbent Gov. Katie Hobbs has been trying to sell the containers that were used as a temporary solution to government and nonprofit groups until Sept. 30 through the Arizona Department of Administration. According to the department’s website, any containers that are leftover will be available for the public to buy starting in October.

“Comprehensive border solutions require collaboration and common sense,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona said in a news release. “When Arizona unilaterally placed hundreds of shipping containers on tribal and federal land back in 2022, it made the border less safe. The containers have now been removed and the land restored. Thanks to the Department of the Interior (through the Bureau of Reclamation) for supporting the rights of the Cocopah Tribe, and to the Department of Agriculture (through the Forest Service) for its vigilance against environmental degradation.”

- Advertisement -

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines told The Center Square the containers served an important role at the time to mitigate the flow of migrants coming into the United States.

“First and foremost, the only reason I would put it up is because the federal government failed to act. And so we kept looking for solutions. We kept calling D.C. I kept having conversations with Sinema and Kelly urging them to work with the president to finalize the wall,” Lines said. “Mayorkas came to Yuma, Mayor Nicholls, and I met with him. He committed to filling in the gaps to nine of the 11 gaps, is what he told us in the meeting. And in that meeting was Chief Ortiz and Yuma Sector Border Patrol, Chris Clem. And in that meeting, he told us that they would fill nine 11 gaps. And then they continued to, delay, delay, delay. And meanwhile, we still had thousands of people coming across the border in those areas every day. And so looking for different solutions, that is one that we came up with.”

He added that it acted as another tool Border Patrol was able to use, regardless of what the Biden administration thought about it.

“And it was easy to look at other examples of where that had been done and then go ahead and proceed to do it. They procured them. Border Patrol repeatedly told us, “Thank you.” That was not providing, you know, total operational control, but it provided situational control and it acted as a funnel to one area to where it was more manageable, to where it did not require as many officers to police or to watch over. So it fully functioned,” he added. “Everybody was happy. State, local, and federal officers. Of course, D.C. wasn’t happy in the area of Yuma where they placed those.”

spot_img
spot_img

Hot this week

African and Caribbean Nations Call for Reparations for Slave Trade, Propose Global Fund

Nations across Africa and the Caribbean, deeply impacted by...

Sports betting expert offers advice on paying taxes for gambling winnings

(The Center Square) – Tax season is underway, and...

Health care company agrees to pay $22.5 million to settle claims of over billing

A health care company agreed to pay nearly $22.5...

Entertainment district benefits don’t outweigh the cost, economists say

(The Center Square) — Weeks later, after more details...

Business association ‘disappointed’ by WA L&I’s proposed workers comp rate hike

(The Center Square) – The Association of Washington Business...

WATCH: IL family fighting state to keep child with disabilities closer to home

(The Center Square) – A southern Illinois family is...

55,000 LA County employees go on strike as county cuts spending, avoids layoffs

(The Center Square) - Fifty-five thousand Los Angeles County...

WATCH: Illinois In Focus Daily | Tuesday April 29th, 2025

(The Center Square) – In today's edition of Illinois...

‘Main Street, not Wall Street’: Trump defends tariffs, touts immigration success

President Donald Trump delivered remarks at a rally in...

1,786 Wisconsin deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease in 2024

(The Center Square) – There were 1,786 deer that...

Report: WA wealth tax would not cause ‘mass exodus of millionaires’

(The Center Square) – A novel tax proposal out...

Louisa County Board of Supervisors approve $187.6M budget

(The Center Square) – Louisa County, Va. supervisors unanimously...

More like this
Related

WATCH: IL family fighting state to keep child with disabilities closer to home

(The Center Square) – A southern Illinois family is...

55,000 LA County employees go on strike as county cuts spending, avoids layoffs

(The Center Square) - Fifty-five thousand Los Angeles County...

WATCH: Illinois In Focus Daily | Tuesday April 29th, 2025

(The Center Square) – In today's edition of Illinois...