In a bold display of border enforcement by Republican Gov., work crews have been steadily building hundreds of double-stacked shipping boxes topped with razor wire along Arizona’s eastern border with Mexico. Doug Ducey is preparing to leave office.

Ducey continued to work until protestors slowed it down, and then largely stopped the work in recent weeks. This was despite the opposition of the U.S. government as well as environmentalists, and an incoming governor, who called it a poor resource use.

Katie Hobbs, Democratic Governor-Elect, stated last week that she was “looking into all the options” but has not decided what to do with the containers following her Jan. 5 inauguration. The containers could be used as affordable housing. This is becoming a popular option for low- and homeless people.

Hobbs said Wednesday that he doesn’t know the exact cost of removing the containers or the estimated cost.

Federal agencies informed Arizona that construction on U.S. property is illegal and they ordered it to stop. Ducey responded on Oct. 21 by suing federal authorities over their objections and bringing the matter to court.

According to environmental groups, the containers could endanger wildlife and natural water systems.

Russ McSpadden (a Southwest conservation advocate for Center for Biological Diversity) said that “a lot of damage could happen here between now and January.” He has been regularly traveling to the site ever since late October.

Ducey claims that Arizona has sole or shared jurisdiction over the 60-foot (18.2m) strip on which the containers rest. He also asserts that Arizona has a constitutional right “to protect residents from imminent danger of criminal or humanitarian crises.”

Ducey stated that Arizona would do the same job as Joe Biden — secure the border in whatever way we can. This was Ducey’s statement when Arizona sued the U.S. government. “We are not backing down.”

Federal agencies want Ducey’s complaints dismissed.

Trump’s focus on border security was an important issue and it remains one of the most pressing issues for Republican politicians. Hobbs’ GOP opponent, Kari Lake promised to send the National Guard to the border within her first day of office. Texas Republican Governor. Greg Abbott, a Texas Republican Governor, was recently reelected for a third term. He has advocated to continue building Trump’s wall on mostly private land at his state’s border to Mexico, and has crowdsourced funds that will help pay for it. He has also been praised for transporting migrants to Democratic-led areas far from the southern border such as New York City and Chicago, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

Ducey’s action comes amid record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the border. The number of migrants stopped by U.S. border officers in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 was 2.38 million, an increase of 37% over the previous year. For the first time, the annual total exceeded 2 million in August. This is more than twice as high as the level attained during Trump’s presidency in 2019.

Ducey’s effort to build a container wall began in the late summer in Yuma, Arizona. Yuma is a popular crossing point for asylum seekers. Many people cross daily, often finding ways around new barriers. The containers filled the gaps left by Trump’s border wall of 450 miles (724 km). The latest construction site, San Rafael Valley, is remote and not used by migrants. It was not included in Trump’s wall construction plans. McSpadden stated that he hasn’t seen any migrants there or Border Patrol agents, but only hikers and backpacking bicycle riders.

It extends from the Huachuca foothills, southeast of Tucson, to the valley’s grasslands. Cranes had moved more than 900 containers of blue and rust-colored metal down a dirt road, which was freshly sanded into the terrain. The cranes then double-stacked the containers up to 17 feet (5.2 meters) high, with steel barriers that cross the waist. Workers bolted together the containers and welded sheet metal to close any gaps.

There are still yawning gaps in the container wall. This includes an open space that extends several hundred yards (meters), on terrain too steep to place containers. Some gaps are nearly three feet (1 meter wide) in low-lying wash areas.

The Cochise County site was occupied by environmental activists who protested in front of construction vehicles. A dozen demonstrators were seen sitting on top of stacked containers, or in camp chairs next to tents and vehicles.

Yuma’s work cost $6 million. It was completed in 11 days using 130 containers that covered approximately 3,800 feet (1,160 meters). Arizona was told by the Bureau of Reclamation that it had violated U.S. law when it built on federal land. The Cocopah Indian Tribe complained that the state didn’t seek permission to build on their nearby reservation.

The cost of the newer project, which is estimated at $95 million, was far greater and required 3,000 containers to cover 10 m (16 km) in Arizona’s southeast Cochise County. The U.S. Forest Service told Arizona to stop working in Coronado National Forest and alerted the public to the potential dangers posed by equipment used in “unauthorized activities” in Arizona.

The Center for Biological Diversity supports the position of the federal government that the construction is in violation of U.S. law.

Although Ducey’s lawsuit doesn’t address environmental concerns groups such as the center claim that the Coronado National Forest work is threatening endangered or threatened species such as the Mexican spotted and western yellow-billed cuckoos, as well big cats like the occasional ocelot.

Arizona’s biologically diverse region is well-known for its “sky Islands,” which are isolated mountain ranges that rise over 6,000 feet (1.828 meters) above the “seas”, or desert and grasslands. The region is home to numerous wildlife cameras that regularly capture black bears and bobcats as well as spotted skunks, ringtails and white-nosed coatis.

McSpadden stated that the work has caused oak and juniper trees to fall, and that he’s discovered razor wire and other construction debris in national forest land.

Environmentalists warn against placing containers on top of a San Pedro River watershed that floods in the summer monsoon season. Rancho Los Fresnos is a protected area just south of the border that houses the beaver, which is a threatened species in Mexico.

Wildlands Network’s Myles Traphagen, a biologist, stated that the Trump administration’s wall construction caused much damage and was never repaired. To highlight the areas that were damaged, he mapped sections of the border wall in Arizona and New Mexico last year. This year’s report highlights the areas that the group considers priority for reconstruction.

The remote Guadalupe Canyon, Arizona’s southeast corner, was forever changed by Dynamite blasts. Towering steel bollards cl