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Biden administration, environmental organization sue Arizona over illegal shipping container 'wall' [1]
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Date: 2022-12-15
The federal government said in its lawsuit that federal agencies, including the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Forest Service, had already notified Ducey that his illegal “wall” was being stacked without permission on federal lands. Ducey, in turn, sued to continue his unlawful construction.
“Not only has Arizona refused to halt its trespasses and remove the shipping containers from federal lands, but it has indicated that it will continue to trespass on federal lands and install additional shipping containers,” court documents said. Ducey’s stunt, being carried out just weeks before Democrat Katie Hobbs is sworn in as the new governor, is costing the state’s taxpayers $100 million. The federal government said the 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.”
“’I think the longer it's there, the more damage is done and the safety hazard continues to persist,’ an administration official said of the container wall,” Arizona Republic reported. “We need serious solutions with input from local leaders and communities to effectively manage the migration challenge, and stacking shipping containers for a photo op isn't a serious solution or helpful,” the official continued.
What the “wall” is doing is hurting the precious ecosystem of the region, The Center for Biological Diversity said in its release.
The center said the unlawful structures “block a critical migration corridor for endangered jaguars and ocelots, violating the Endangered Species Act. Many threatened and endangered species depend on the San Pedro River’s lush riparian habitat. These species include southwestern willow flycatchers, Huachuca water umbel, Arizona eryngo, desert pupfish, loach minnow, spikedace, yellow-billed cuckoos and northern Mexican garter snakes.”
x You can help: Tell Department of Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack and his Forest Service that it's time to protect public lands and enforce the law by stopping Ducey's illegal construction now.
https://t.co/GF9KTTXT0V — Center for Biological Diversity (@CenterForBioDiv) December 14, 2022
“It’s a travesty to see desert washes filled with dirt and these beautiful borderlands turned into a dump site,” center co-founder Robin Silver said. “We’re grateful to the courageous activists who’re braving rain and snow to block construction. Thanks to these protesters, an injunction in this case is less urgent, but we need a judge to stop this for good.”
Silver is pointing to the concerned community members who, frustrated by the lack of federal action, have physically blockaded the machinery, illegally dumping Ducey’s containers. Some said that workers got their machinery dangerously close to them. Another blockader, Bill Scheel, told Arizona Daily Star that it was “neat” that their “presence here has almost completely shut it down. We’re obeying the law. They’re the ones who are disobeying the law.”
Blockaders have largely shut down the dumping. Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway has also said he’ll arrest any builders who place containers in his jurisdiction, calling it “illegal dumping.”
"The area where they're placing the containers is entirely on federal land, on national forest land," Hathaway recently told FOX 10. "It's not state land, it's not private land, and the federal government has said this [is] illegal activity. So just the way if I saw somebody doing an assault or a homicide or a vehicle theft on public land within my county, I would charge that person with a crime."
Hathaway told FOX 10 that construction was happening about six miles away from the county line. Nogales International reported that while Ducey spokesperson C.J. Karamargin confirmed plans for Cochise County, he would not comment about Santa Cruz County.
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GOP officials use white supremacist rhetoric in pushing Arizona governor to attack asylum-seekers
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