By Ryan Fatica
Cochise County, AZ-Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s office told the federal government yesterday that he will remove the makeshift shipping container barrier he constructed along the US-Mexico border, both in the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County and near Yuma, Arizona. The agreement was filed as a stipulation in federal court.
The agreement came one week to the day after the federal government filed a lawsuit against Governor Ducey and the State of Arizona for encroaching on federal lands and dumping hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers into the wilderness along the US-Mexico border.
Since the project began in late October, workers have feverishly placed hundreds of shipping containers along the Arizona/Sonora border in Southern Cochise County, forming a precarious barrier and a gash through an otherwise pristine stretch of oak grassland.
According to the Complaint filed by the federal government December 14, the shipping containers “damage federal lands, threaten public safety, and impede the ability of federal agencies and officials, including law enforcement personnel, to perform their official duties.”
Under the terms of the new stipulation, the shipping containers Ducey installed near Yuma, Arizona will be removed by January 4, 2023, however no clear timeline was established for removal of the barrier in Cochise County.
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