Ariz. Gov. Ducey to Remove Shipping Container Wall

Paul Ingram, Tucson Sentinel, Dec. 21, 2022

"Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said the state will halt placing shipping containers along the Arizona-Mexico border, and begin removing hundreds of the 8,000-lb. steel boxes set up as makeshift barriers from federal lands by Jan. 4, according to a court document filed late Wednesday. In a 4-page stipulation filed jointly by Arizona officials and U.S. Attorney of Arizona Gary M. Restaino, Ducey said the state agreed "to maintain its cessation of activity" on land managed by the National Forest System in Cochise County. This includes halting the installation of hundreds of the 40-foot-long containers, as well as equipment staging, roadwork, welding of panels, and the installation of "razor" wire along the top of the barriers. State officials also said they would "confer with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service for safety purposes and to avoid and minimize damage to the United States’ lands, properties, and natural resources." They added "to the extent feasible and so as not to cause damage to United States’ lands, properties, and natural resources," Arizona officials will "remove all previously installed shipping containers and associated equipment, materials, vehicles, and other objects" from land near Yuma," including from lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation near the Morelos Dam, and the Cocopah Indian Tribe’s West Reservation."