Arizona has told the U.S. government the state was within its rights to construct a border barrier of shipping containers on federal land in the Yuma area and will not remove it, the governor’s office said Wednesday, rejecting federal officials’ claim of trespassing.
Moreover, the state plans to continue placing border barriers on federal land and is “looking at all areas where containers may be appropriate,” said Gov. Doug Ducey’s spokesman C.J. Karamargin.
The state’s response comes just as a Tucson-based conservation group, the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a court notice of its intent to sue over Arizona’s planned use of shipping containers along a different portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, in Cochise County.
The standoff started when the Republican governor signed an executive order in August to place shipping crates in Yuma near the border where large numbers of undocumented immigrants were entering the country. The 130 shipping containers are placed on federal land where the state has no jurisdiction to construct a barrier, costing taxpayers about $13 million.
The U.S. asked the state to remove the Yuma containers last week, saying it was an “unauthorized placement’’ on federal property and on Cocopah Indian Tribe land.
But the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs responded in an Oct. 18 letter that the U.S. Constitution provides for protection of the states and specifically reserves the right of states to defend themselves.
Arizona rejects the legal analysis for the federal government’s argument that the state needs to remove the crates, Karamargin said.
“The state of Arizona has no intention to remove the containers. … The governor takes his duty to protect Arizona very seriously, so the containers aren’t going anywhere,” he said.
The barrier in Yuma does not immediately stop migrants from entering the country in that region, figures show. The number of migrants the Border Patrol apprehended only increased in the three weeks that followed placement of the barriers.
Arizona says the federal government incorrectly claims the state is trespassing, and cites several legal statutes and the U.S. Constitution to back up its claim, in the letter addressed to Jacklynn Gould, regional director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
As well, U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the state Oct. 18 that it will close four gaps in the border barrier near the Morelos Dam in Yuma in the area where the state put the shipping crates.
Customs and Border Protection would fill about 1,700 feet — the state says it has filled 3,800 — using a combination of temporary mesh fencing and mechanized bollard vehicle gates that allow for access to the riverside of the barrier, starting in early 2023, says a letter from the agency.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Karamargin countered. “The federal government does not seem to be acting, either with a sense of urgency or in good faith. We have a temporary solution. What Arizona needs is a permanent solution. So the notion that we’re going to reopen gaps in the border barrier and leave them open for months while the federal government puts its plans together to fill them with an apparently less secure, temporary solution — not going to happen.”
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue to stop the state from putting up a border barrier in the Coronado National Forest in Cochise County where there is a jaguar and ocelot migration corridor.
“These shipping containers are a shameless publicity stunt that will jeopardize the survival of endangered wildlife,” said Robin Silver, a co-founder of the center. “There are 3,700 agents covering the Tucson Sector alone, not to mention helicopters, drones and hundreds of cameras. We’re in an extinction crisis, and it’s reckless to sacrifice a critical wildlife corridor and harm endangered animals so Ducey can score political points.”
The state has put shipping containers immediately to the west of the Huachuca Mountains and plans to put them on the border there, which would block wildlife corridors, says the center’s Oct. 19 notice.
Karamargin said he can’t comment on the notice from the center because state officials haven’t seen it.
The center’s 60-day notice of intent to sue the governor, the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security for Endangered Species Act violations says the area is a critical migration corridor for jaguars and ocelots, which are protected under the act.
“These useless barriers do nothing to stop people from crossing the border, but they’ll stop wildlife in their tracks,” Silver said. “Unless Ducey wants his legacy to be driving Arizona’s most iconic animals to extinction, he needs to end this ridiculous waste of taxpayer money.”
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey shared a video Thursday morning showing the progress of a shipping-crate border barrier being built in Southern Arizona west of the Coronado National Memorial. According to Ducey, nearly one mile of the planned 10-mile structure has been erected. Video courtesy Doug Ducey.
Photos of the U.S. – Mexico border fence
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A dog stands on a road commonly used by Border Patrol near Slaughter Ranch Museum Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A border monument on the Mexico side of the border seen east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge sits on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A bull and cow graze near the site of new wall construction east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The border seen stretching from hills east of Douglas into the Guadalupe Mountains Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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Flowers grow around border fencing near the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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Construction equipment set up at the site of new border wall construction on the US/Mexico border east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A Border Patrol tower on the hills east of Douglas Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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Memorials place on graves at Julia Page Memorial Park in Douglas which sits along the U.S./Mexico border Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A car drives through Douglas on a road parallel to the U.S./Mexico border wall Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The Slaughter Ranch homestead Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A lake on the Slaughter Ranch Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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A toy rocking horse placed on the side of East Geronimo Trail with a sign advertising five minute pony rides for 25 cents Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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Highway 2 in Mexico winds its way to Agua Prieta Thursday, Sept. 27, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The vehicle in a ditch was driven through the international border fence in Agua Prieta, Mex., into Douglas, Arizona in July 1987.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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Mexican citizens run back into Agua Prieta, Mexico through a hole in the border fence at Douglas, Ariz., after the U.S. Border Patrol scared them back across the border in 1997.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry on May 1, 2018, in Douglas, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Douglas, Ariz.
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The Douglas, Ariz., border crossing in 1968.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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U.S./Mexico border fencing next to a old church building in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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Old border posts line the U.S./Mexico line near Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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A Soal Off Roading sticker placed on a U.S./Mexico border post near Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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Mountains in Santa Cruz County seen from Duquesne Road between Nogales and Lochiel seen Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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A monument in Lochiel marking where Fray Marcos De Niza entered Arizona Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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Brothers Ramon and Ed De La Ossa mend fencing on their family's ranch in Lochiel after moving cattle Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. The ranch which used to span both sides of the U.S./Mexico border has been in the family for three generations.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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Ed De La Ossa mends fencing on his family's ranch in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. The ranch which used to span both sides of the U.S./Mexico border has been in the family for three generations.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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Ed De La Ossa moves cattle on his family's ranch in Lochiel Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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U.S. Customs inspector Helen Mills, right, greets Mexican counterpart Raymundo Aguirre Castillo at the U.S. - Mexican border station at Lochiel, Ariz., in 1979.
U.S. – Mexico border near Lochiel, Ariz.
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The US Customs building, right, at Lochiel, Ariz., is just a short distance away from the international border in May 1972. For ten years, Mills has been managing the port of entry, which is mostly made up of five houses, a school and an vacant church, inspecting vehicles as they head into the US. During the week, from Monday through Saturday, Mills opens the border gate from 8 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 6 pm. On Sunday the gate is open from 8 am to 6 pm. In that time barely a dozen vehicles make their way across the border but it is a major convenience to the local residents.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Pedestrians walk to the Nogales port of entry Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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A pedestrian walks across North Grand Avenue in Nogales near the U.S./Mexico port of entries Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer R. Hernandez uses a density-measuring device on the rear quarter-panel of a Mexico-bound passenger vehicle at the DeConcini Port of Entry on Nov. 2, 2016, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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A Customs and Border Protection officer makes a visual check of a man's identification at the DeConcini Port of Entry on Feb. 15, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz. Busts of fraudulent border-crossing documents and the use of someone else's documents plummeted in Arizona and the rest of the border in the past decade.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Northbound commercial truck traffic lined up for inspection at the Mariposa Port of Entry on March 28, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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In the commercial lanes a semi truck stops between the lanes looking for the first available opening at the Mariposa Port of Entry in 2015.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Javier Castillo inspects a north-bound Mexican tractor-trailer at the Arizona Department of Transportation's inspection facility at the Mariposa Port of Entry on Sept. 19, 2017, in Nogales, Ariz. ADOT's International Border Inspection Qualification program, led by ADOT's Border Liaison Unit, teaches commercial truck drivers what to expect during safety inspections when they enter Arizona ports of entry.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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A Border Patrol truck parked near the commercial port of entry in Nogales.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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An illegal alien scales the U.S.-Mexico fence back toward Sonora after a Nogales Police Department officer, right, spotted him west of the Mariposa Port of Entry, Nov. 15, 2018, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Kory's, a store catering to wedding, quincea–era and formal gowns, located at 15 N Morley Ave, Nogales, Ariz., sits katty corner to the Morley Gate Border Station on January 30, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Sun shines through the U.S.-Mexico bollard fence west of the Mariposa Port of Entry, Nov. 15, 2018, in Nogales, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz.
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Children from Nogales, Sonora, climb through a hole in the international border fence to trick-or-treat in Nogales, Arizona, on Halloween in 1987.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Border monument #166 is seen on the right as construction continues on the new 30-foot tall bollard fence that replaces old U.S./Mexico border fence two miles east of the Lukeville, Arizona port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Construction continues on the new 30-foot tall bollard fence along the U.S./Mexico border two miles east of the Lukeville, Arizona port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A Mexican worker rides his horse along a road south of the U.S./Mexican border wall on his way back into Sonoyta Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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New paneling of border wall seen about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Old mesh paneling is removed in preparation for new wall to be built about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A construction worker prepares cables to lift a piece of the 30-foot tall bollard fence along the U.S./Mexico border fence two miles east of the Lukeville, Arizona port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Border Patrol Officers to the side of a worksite about three miles east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry where new border wall is being installed seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Old wall east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Raised wall east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A work site east of the Lukeville/Sonoyta port of entry seen from the Mexico side of the border line Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Normandy fencing placed against a section of border fence west of Lukeville Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A semi passes by Quitobaquito Springs as it drives along Highway 2 in Mexico Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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An area referred to as "flood gate" along the U.S./Mexico border near Sasabe, Ariz. is on the list of the Department of Homeland Security’s priorities for building a border wall, but no funding has been allocated yet. September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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Vehicle barriers mark the U.S./Mexico border within the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A portion of the U.S./Mexico bollard border fence ends on the right and vehicle barriers begin within the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Integrated Fixed Tower, left, near Sasabe, Ariz. on September 16, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near Sasabe and Lukeville, Ariz.
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The new 30-foot tall bollard fence that replaced old U.S./Mexico border fence can be seen on the left. It's located about miles east of the Lukeville, Arizona port of entry on October 8, 2019. Photo taken from Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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A US Border Patrol vehicle seen next to a section of new 30 foot high wall along the US/Mexico border near the commercial port of entry in San Luis Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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Old fencing is taken down along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico, Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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A security guard stand in a construction site where a new fence will be placed on the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico, Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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Old fencing against new fencing along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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Crews prepare ground for a new fence to be placed on the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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Vehicles in line to enter the United States from San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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New fencing along the United States/Mexico border seen from the northern end of San Luis, Mexico on Aug. 7, 2019.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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A new section of fencing on the U.S. - Mexico border in California, just west of Yuma, Ariz., in 1993.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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Sand drifts through the "floating fence" that marks the border running through the dunes, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, west of San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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A sign warns of the dangers of trying to swim the All-American Canal just north of the Mexican border, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, west of San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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A long string of lights illuminate the no-man's land between the triple fencing of the Mexican border, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. – Mexico border near San Luis, Ariz.
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The border fence comes to an abrupt end at the currently dry Colorado River, Thursday, July 26, 2018, west of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora.
