Ariz. Agrees to Remove 'Shipping Container Border Wall'

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Facts

  • Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey reached a settlement with the US Dept. of Justice to stop the construction of a border wall made from shipping containers on national forest lands according to court documents filed with the US District Court of Phoenix.
  • Ariz. also consented to remove all previously-installed containers and associated equipment, materials, and vehicles along parts of the US-Mexico border without damaging natural resources, lands, and properties by Jan. 4, 2023.
  • Ducey hopes the agreement prevents the Biden admin. from imposing a restraining order after it filed a lawsuit demanding that Arz. remove the containers. The lawsuit stated that the wall was illegally constructed on federal land.
  • The federal government and Ariz. have been fighting since Ducey's August executive order requesting the state's Dept. of Emergency and Military Affairs to fill in gaps along the border with shipping containers, reportedly without permitting or authorization.
  • A representative for the Governor's office stressed that construction works had already stopped and stated that Ariz. agreed to take down the shipping container border wall after the Biden admin. vowed to build a new barrier shortly.
  • Democrat Katie Hobbs, who opposes border wall construction, is set to become governor in two weeks. Her admin. comes as Trump-era limits on asylum seekers will potentially expire in the near future.

Sources: FOX News, Axios, New York Times, CNN, AZ Family, and Associated Press.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by AZ Central. Outgoing Gov. Ducey's costly and ineffective farewell political stunt on migrants has finally come to an end after the federal government and local protesters have exerted pressure to stop the construction. Millions of taxpayers' dollars have been wasted on a grotesque, environmentally disastrous shipping container wall in an area where human migration hardly exists.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Fox News. Arizona's shipping container border wall has always been a temporary solution to the mounting southern border crisis, which has been neglected by the Biden administration. The crisis exploded after Biden made an empty promise to fill gaps in the border over a year ago. Biden's response is too little, too late.