Funviralpark Arizona officials have agreed to tear down a wall of shipping containers along the Mexican border just months after the outgoing governor said the state would “not back down” on the issue.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey agreed with the Biden administration to stop the placement of containers in the Coronado National Forest, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix on Wednesday.
The agreement also states that Arizona must remove the completed portion of the wall by January 4 without damaging natural resources.
Built from more than 900 containers and spent at least $80 million in taxpayer money, the wall covers part of Arizona’s 370-mile-long border with Mexico and is the result of former President Donald Trump’s imperfect border. It is kept open by border barriers.
Ducey, who ordered the construction of a makeshift wall earlier this year, always insisted the stacked containers were temporary placeholders for more permanent solutions.
“Arizona is going to do the job that Joe Biden refuses to do. We will secure the border any way we can,” he said when the state sued the federal government in October for the right to keep the wall. He said, “We won’t back down,” he added.
Ducey’s comments came as record numbers of illegal immigrants attempted to cross the southern border into the United States after being forced out of declining Latin American states.
However, the Biden administration responded by suing Ducey and Arizona, alleging that the wall amounted to encroachment on federal land.
As part of the new agreement filed Wednesday, Arizona officials will have to consult with U.S. Forest Service officials throughout the removal process.
The Arizona-based Center for Biodiversity has also filed two lawsuits against container walls, dividing protected areas housing various vulnerable species, blocking access to waterways and migration routes, and disrupting natural habitats. He said it disrupted the landscape.
The resolution also comes two weeks before Democrat Katie Hobbs takes office as governor. Hobbes had previously dismissed the wall as a “political stunt” and vowed to halt its construction.
“It’s not our land to put things on.
with post wire
