Arizona agrees to pay federal government $2.1 million for makeshift border wall
Misty Severi
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The state of Arizona has agreed to pay the federal government $2.1 million for its attempt to create a border wall made of shipping containers in what the state hopes will end a handful of lawsuits over the matter.
The U.S. Forest Service presented the state with a bill of $2.1 million last week, Judy Kioski, a spokesperson for the state’s Division of Emergency Management, told Arizona Central on Wednesday. The funds are part of the remediation effort to remove the containers from the Arizona-Mexico border in Cochise and Yuma counties. Once the state pays the bill, the lawsuits are expected to be dismissed.
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The makeshift wall was built by former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey last year in an effort to stop immigrants from crossing into Arizona. But he was met with backlash by the federal government, with the Department of Justice suing Ducey in December 2022, claiming the governor had violated federal law.
The land where the shipping containers were placed was federal land and could only be used by Arizona if the state was given permission by the U.S. government, the DOJ said. The state had not been given permission. The state was also given notice that it was violating the law before the lawsuit was filed but was ignored.
The lawsuit alleged the stacked wall harmed federal lands, threatened public safety, and impeded the abilities of federal agencies to do their jobs.
Ducey also sued the federal government last October after receiving the notice that he and his administration violated federal law.
Ducey began dismantling the wall last year, but the project was completed by Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), who took office earlier this year. Hobbs has previously referred to the makeshift wall as a “political stunt.”
“It’s not land that’s our land to put things on. That’s one problem. The containers aren’t working. There’s many pictures of people climbing over them,” Hobbs said in December. “It’s a political stunt. It’s a visual barrier that is not actually providing an effective barrier to entry, and I think a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
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The lawsuit will remain in effect until Sept. 26 if they are not dismissed earlier. If they are not dismissed, both parties will need to file a joint progress report.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the governor’s office for comment.