Arizona refuses Biden administration demand to remove shipping containers along border

Arizona on Wednesday refused a demand from the Biden administration to take down shipping containers that are being used to fill in a portion of a wall on the state’s border with Mexico.

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs sent a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announcing they will not remove the containers until the administration moves to fill in the gaps with a permanent barrier, according to The Associated Press.

The state rebuffed a recent demand from the Bureau of Reclamation to remove several dozen shipping containers stacked on federal land near the Morelos Dam and others stacked on tribal lands.

The agency said it was planning to close up two gaps near the dam and anticipates closing up two other gaps, so the shipping containers should be removed.

But Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Wednesday tweeted, “Arizonans cannot — and will not — wait for federal bureaucrats to do their job and secure the border.”

“We’re taking action now,” the governor wrote.

The feud is the latest between the Biden administration and Republican-led border states, which are struggling to contain a massive surge of migrants and have accused President Biden of refusing to take action to address the crisis.

Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) have also been busing migrants to liberal cities to raise awareness and demand action from the federal government, but the moves have drawn widespread controversy for using human beings as part of a political ploy.

Former President Trump initiated the construction of a southern border wall during his presidency. Construction was halted under Biden, but his administration has closed up some gaps.

Ducey issued an executive order in August ordering the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to immediately start closing up gaps near the city of Yuma.

“Arizona has had enough. We can’t wait any longer. The Biden administration’s lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty,” Ducey said in a statement at the time. “For the last two years, Arizona has made every attempt to work with Washington to address the crisis on our border. Time and time again we’ve stepped in to clean up their mess. Arizonans can’t wait any longer for the federal government to deliver on their delayed promises.”

According to Ducey’s office, the double-stacked, 8,880-pound shipping containers are expected to reach up to 22 feet high and are reinforced with concertina wire at the top.

The effort is expected to cost $6 million to fill a thousand-foot gap near Yuma, which the governor’s office described as a “notorious” crossing for migrants and illegal drugs.

Some migrants have gone around the shipping container barriers and are moving through a Cocopah Indian Tribe reservation. The tribe has complained about 42 shipping containers stacked on its land.