Arizona has placed double-stacked shipping containers along the U.S.-Mexico border in response to the overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border. The federal government has demanded that Arizona remove the shipping containers but Arizona has indicated that the containers will remain until a permanent barrier is installed by the federal government.
On October 18th, the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs director, Allen Clark, wrote a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation which stated, “The containers will remain in place until specific details regarding construction are provided.”
Currently the regional spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Reclamation has not commented on Arizona’s refusal to remove the containers and only highlights the stark contrast of immigration policy between Republicans and Democrats.
The Bureau of Reclamation did notify Arizona officials that having double-stacked shipping containers on the border violated federal law. The bureau said in order to prevent conflicts with federal contracts already awarded and more to come, the shipping containers must go in order for companies to fill gaps in the border wall near the Morelos Dam in Yuma, Arizona.
The Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, gave the order to have more than 100 double-stacked shipping containers installed between gaps in the border wall because he couldn’t wait for the federal government to award contracts and needed to stop illegal border crossing immediately.
However, after the shipping containers were installed, the migrants began to travel around them through a neighboring Cocopah Indian Reservation causing the Tribe to complain to Arizona officials that more needed to be done.
Republicans have a strong immigration stance and insist on having a secure border before any negotiations on immigration reform can occur.
The Biden Administration has halted construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall on his first day in office. Biden’s decision to halt construction of the border wall has cost taxpayers billions of dollars by wasting finished wall materials sitting in fields and canceled contracts. A few exceptions have been made for completing certain areas of the wall, where illegal crossings are the most frequent.