Grand Canyon Times

The U.S. government is demanding that Arizona remove the double-stacked shipping containers placed by Gov. Doug Ducey to fill gaps in the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming the state doesn't have the legal right to use them.

In a letter recently sent to the State by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the government asked that no new containers be placed along the Arizona border, as the bureau says it wants to prevent conflicts of interest with two federal contractors that have been hired and two more still pending to fill border wall gaps near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma area; the Associated Press (AP) reported this week. The Cocopah Indian Tribe applauded the letter and complained about the placement of the 42 double-stacked shipping containers, saying the containers were placed on their land without permission. Ducey said the state government will not comply, but it will look at options.

"Arizonans cannot — and will not — wait for federal bureaucrats to do their job and secure the border," Ducey said on Twitter this week. "We’re taking action now." 

The letter alleges that Ducey's placement of the containers is illegal.

“The unauthorized placement of those containers constitutes a violation of federal law and is a trespass against the United States,” the letter said. “That trespass is harming federal lands and resources and impeding Reclamation’s ability to perform its mission.”

Cocopah Tribal officials said that while the tribe supports border security, it supports the call to move the containers.

“We believe the Bureau is taking the necessary and appropriate action to resolve this issue,” the Tribe said in a statement released by the AP. “Beyond that, we will continue working side-by-side with local, state and federal law enforcement on securing the border.”

Ducey's spokesman, C.J. Karamargin criticized the letter, saying the containers had already been in place for months before the federal government got involved.

“It took the feds since August to write a letter?” Karamargin said. “If this is any indication of their sense of urgency, then perhaps that explains the problem we’re having. As for the letter, we question their legal analysis and we are looking at our options."