Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) agreed in court documents Wednesday to dismantle a barrier made of double-high shipping containers and razor wire he had ordered constructed along parts of his state's border with Mexico. The Biden administration had sued Ducey on Dec. 14, arguing that the barrier was illegally built on federal land and was causing damage to vegetation and seasonal streams in the Coronado National Forest.
Ducey ordered the construction of the barrier in August. In October, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation sent him a letter warning that the project was effectively trespassing on federal land. Ducey refused to remove the containers, Arizona sued the Biden administration, and the Justice Department filed its lawsuit last week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Building the border barrier has cost at least $82 million, Ducey's office says, using funds approved by the GOP-controlled state Legislature. It's not clear "how much it would cost to remove the 9,000-pound boxes and repair environmental damage done after bulldozers cut roads, blocked streams, and uprooted oaks and junipers," The New York Times reports.
A Ducey spokesman said the governor agreed to remove the roughly 125 old shipping containers because he believes the Biden administration will build a permanent barrier in gaps near Yuma, as the Homeland Security Department announced in July.
Russ McSpadden, a critic of the barrier at the Center for Biological Diversity, said "Ducey has wasted countless millions of taxpayer dollars building his damaging and illegal shipping container wall," but "nevertheless, we're very pleased to see him agree to remove his political stunt."
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
