Outgoing Arizona governor Doug Ducey’s final months in office included the construction of a border wall made from shipping containers. But Santa Cruz county Sheriff David Hathaway says the Republican politician has gone too far.
On Aug. 24, Ducey’s office announced “3,820 feet of previously open border near Yuma, Arizona, is now closed with a barrier of double-stacked and secured shipping containers.”
The governor said a “historic investment” made possible by legislative leaders made the barrier possible to erect in just 11 days. He also declared the federal government had “failed to” secure his state’s border with Mexico.
According to Hathaway, anyone in his county participating in “illegal activity” tied to building Ducey’s border wall on federal land — as he claims is the case with the shipping container barricade — will be arrested.
“It’s not state land, it’s not private land, and the federal government has said this (is) illegal activity,” the sheriff told Fox 10 in Phoenix.
Ducey filed a lawsuit in October arguing his unorthodox actions are in response to an “unprecedented crisis” on Arizona’s border with Mexico, where he says refugees and immigrants are crossing into the U.S. in large numbers.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs becomes governor in 2023 following her narrow victory over Republican candidate Kari Lake. Ducey, who served since 2015, was prohibited from again because of term limit restrictions. He signed to certify Hobbs’ victory last week. Hobbs hasn’t announced plans to address Ducey’s wall of containers.
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