The federal government is demanding in court that Arizona take down a makeshift border wall ordered by the governor. But the state shows no signs of dismantling the barrier.
Arizona officials are not backing down from the state’s controversial decision to build a makeshift border wall using shipping containers, even after the Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit demanding the structure be taken down.
The U.S. government filed the complaint against the state in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, saying the barrier’s construction constitutes trespassing on federal lands and requesting that the containers be removed and further placement be halted, according to The Associated Press. The lawsuit also seeks damages to compensate for any required fixes along the border.
The project originally began after outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order in August directing officials to fill an approximately 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near Yuma. At the time, it was estimated to require 60 double-stacked shipping containers and cost about $6 million, according to the governor’s office. But the size – and price tag – of the effort has risen since, with The AP reporting the overall work placing now thousands of containers is about a third finished, at a cost of $95 million.
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