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he Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs has refused to remove over a hundred double-stacked shipping containers it placed in gaps along its southern border with Mexico, despite the federal government alleging that the containers are a “trespass against the United States.”
Around 122 containers were placed along the border in Yuma County in line with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s orders back in August, including 80 wire-reinforced containers that were placed on bureau lands and 42 on Cocopah Indian Tribe lands, according to federal authorities.
In a letter addressed to Arizona Homeland Security Director Tim Roemer and Arizona Division of Emergency Management Director Allen Clark on Oct. 13, the U.S. Department of the Interior claimed that the 122 containers that were sitting within its lands were a violation of U.S. law.
The containers being placed on the gaps in Yuma’s wall are also “harming federal lands,” while “impeding reclamation’s ability to perform its mission,” the letter stated.
In its letter, the federal government also demanded that no new containers be placed; claiming that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been awarded a contract to close two gaps in the border barrier near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma.
However, in a responding letter on Oct. 18, Arizona Director of Emergency Management Allen Clark pushed back on all the claims made by the Biden administration and refused to remove the containers.
