Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered 60 double-stacked shipping containers to be placed in border fence gaps near Yuma, the state’s busiest illegal border crossing area.
The containers will be reinforced with concertina wire at the top, according to the governor, who issued an executive order for the work to begin on Aug. 12.
“Arizona has had enough,” Ducey, a Republican, said in a news release.
“We can’t wait any longer. The Biden administration’s lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty. For the last two years, Arizona has made every attempt to work with Washington to address the crisis on our border.”
Contractors started placing the shipping containers on Aug. 12 and expect to complete the 1,000-foot gap in the border wall on Aug. 14. It’s expected to cost $6 million.
The stacked shipping containers will reach about 22-feet high and will be linked together and welded shut, Ducey said. The existing border wall constructed during the Trump era is 30-feet high.
Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector have experienced the largest spike in apprehensions along the southern border since President Joe Biden took office.
During fiscal year 2022, minus three months still to be reported, border agents have arrested more than 162,700 illegal crossers, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
In fiscal 2021, the total was more than 184,500, while in fiscal 2020 Border Patrol agents apprehended just over 8,700 illegal crossers.
Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls declared an emergency in his city on Dec. 9, 2021, due to an overwhelming influx of illegal aliens.
During that influx, the local 911 dispatch center was tied up for hours with calls from illegal aliens asking for transport, food, and clothing, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot told The Epoch Times.
Nicholls said Yuma—which has nearly 100,000 residents—doesn’t have the resources to handle the thousands of people now crossing.
“The surge of migrants the federal government has allowed to trek over the border has the grave potential to greatly impact and strain our community,” Nicholls said on Aug. 12 in a press release. “Washington must send a clear message that this is not the way to immigrate to our country.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly said the “border is closed.”
Border Wall Halted
Biden halted all border wall construction the day he took office on Jan. 20, 2021.
“It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall,” Biden’s executive order states.
Millions of dollars of unfinished border wall materials have lain in the deserts of Arizona since.
A report by Senate Republicans issued in July 2021 states that the construction stoppage is costing taxpayers $3 million per day.
The senators who produced the report estimated that the administration has spent between $618 million and $708 million on contractors between Jan. 20, 2021, and July 15, 2021, and will ultimately spend up to $1.2 billion more to exit the border wall projects.
Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines welcomed the shipping container wall.
“National security starts with border security. Biden’s border crisis deteriorates daily while the White House is silent,” he said in a press release. “Border communities like Yuma bear the burden of a broken border while narcotics poison our youth, human smuggling rises and mass amounts of migrants wear on our nonprofits.”
Term-limited as governor, Ducey has pledged to support GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who will face Democrat Katie Hobbs in on Nov. 8.
Lake has pledged to declare the border crisis an invasion on day one, should she win.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an opinion on the invasion clause in the Constitution on Feb. 7.
“The on-the-ground violence and lawlessness at Arizona’s border caused by cartels and gangs is extensive, well-documented, and persistent. It can satisfy the definition of ‘actually invaded’ and ‘invasion’ under the U.S. Constitution,” the Brnovich opinion reads.
“The federal government is failing to fulfill its duty under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution to defend the States from invasion. The State Self-Defense Clause exists precisely for situations such as the present, to ensure that States are not left helpless.”
As commander-in-chief for Arizona, Ducey has the power to “engage in defensive actions within its own territory at or near its border,” according to Brnovich.
Ducey has stopped short of enacting his power to use the National Guard and militia forces in such a way.
Reprinted with Permission from - The Epoch Times by - Charlotte Cuthbertson
Whatever it takes to secure our borders, we need to be doing. Since the Biden administration is protecting illegal immigrants who enter the U.S., we need to prevent them from being able to enter in the first place. Also blast tunnels.
If the states can actively define, why aren’t they. I can pretty much guarantee that National Guard on the border with guns, shooting invaders would work. It’d only take a few attempts to solve the problem.
SEND ALL OF THE illegals TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE fbi OFFICES (NOW THE RUSSIAN , KGB)
Don’t think there are very many Democrats on this forum but when They tell you the border is closed and you know that’s a big lie, no recession, and that a lie and the media lying about everything which comes from the Democrat party, how can Democrats keep voting for Democrats, It’s like a religion to them. Sorry about venting but all this ruining our country needs to stop and I don’t know how to do it when Democrats and our FBI And justice department are fine with cheating at elections.
Joe Biden dismantling the efforts to “protect and defend” this country from the invasion of illegals is TREASON and he should be impeached. He gave a direct command to his vice-president to handle this crisis and she did nothing, also contrary to the Constitution and again is TREASON and should be removed from office. That would make the Speaker of House the acting President as happened with Nixon ( heaven forbid ), but since any member of Congress who did not support President Trumps initiative to build the wall in the first place acted in TREASON they are impeached too and cannot vote in any other action of impeachment. Therefore, there needs to be a SPECIAL ELECTION to elect a President and Congress to run this country!!!
How did that happen with Nixon? He resigned and his VP, Gerald Ford, became president.
Jerry did not fail in the jobs he was given, he did violate his oath of office. He was a bit of a slapstick comedian, but still able to run the office.
NOT VIOLATE HIS OFFICE!
Thank God for the governors of Arizona, Texas and Florida. They are doing what the traitor Biden should!
Are they planning on burying those shipping containers down 120 or so feet before they start stacking them 90 or so feet high?
The tunnel moles tend to be resourceful….you see!
Land mines. Surface to about 200 feet down. Put a fence and signs before mine area. I know the illegals will force march children and women through the mine area. The idea needs to be tweeted to make it usable. Just my opinion. CHRIS
It’s about time.
I can’t wait to see the looks on the faces of the idiots who are fleeing their own countries. They will soon find that they have fled their own tyrannical countries, only to belatedly find that we have become a worse tyranny, run not by voters, but by an army of cartel-loving crooks who have trampled the Constitution and regard its citizens as sheep to be robbed and completely controlled..
George Soros and certain other America-hating Hollyweird Elitists (such as Leonardo DeCaprio)
must be gloating.
Ducey should have acted sooner. He should know not to put his trust in the FGeds. Kyle L.
He acted now because he is all shook up Keri Lake?
I really don’t understand why the border Governor’s don’t have the courage to declare an invasion.
Why wouldn’t they utilize every option available to protect their citizens??
Good for them. This is about survival plain and simple. It is about admitting and facing the fact that the feds are absolutely not going to be there for the American people. Facing the fact we are on our own is the first step in our survival. Do what needs to be done. Darwin’s offspring will most likely not survive this. Help where you can…but not at the expense of your children and family.
Brilliant! Guess kari lake is his motivator!
I do think the USA needs a treaty with the other Nations that are sources for entry to the USA illegally (especially Mexico) that requires them to take custody of illegals that cross FROM their country and be responsible for punishing the illegals that cross the US borders and according to what laws they think are needed to insure they return to their country of citizenry and do NOT re-attempt future efforts to reenter illegally either country. I fear that in the long run the death penalty may have to be instituted to stop a significant fraction of illegals. I think the only way to really stem the tide of illegals attempting to enter this country.is to make sure they know that it will NOT be tolerated by the USA or the country from which they attempt entry..
.
…and then you woke up…
Dreams sometimes become true if external reality recognizes its practicality & desirability! But I do believe as long as the DemocRat has stopping power at any level of government, dreams will only find reality if it meets Commie standards.
Wont happen w/biden
Alread has…….
Already has…….!
Good idea.
Biden was a good little Commie DemocRat when he stopped installation of all Southern border fence installation. The DemocRats need thos illegals to use for ballot rigging!!!!
You have a misspelling – I think you meant DemonRats! No?
Well, Rats is included in the name of their very corrupt party, but either word morph is just as accurate.
I trust that the wire will be electrified…makes for a nice light show at dusk…
well, AZ turned blue last election, so they got what they voted for. they should have known better.
Rigged elections??? I’d bet a bit of money that AZ won’t go DemocRat next election.
AZ did not turn blue. It was voter fraud. So I guess you deserve biden?
SHOOT the invaders as they cross the border…I guarantee they will stop!!
How about sending then back to the country from which they entered the US illegally (Mexico in a majority of cases). And give them a warning that if they enter illegally again, they will be returned to their country of origin (citizenry). Any third attempt garners heavy physical punishment and then return to their original country of origin (citizenry).
Hi
My question is how will we get out the newly crossed of plus 2 million and the illegals who have been living here for years?
Biden has never addressed his corruption of the US immigration laws. Not in the public with his speeches. And no reporter has asked him why he is doing this?
Secret Service monitors lots of internet traffic. That said: if “Sam” wanted the border closed it would be. Politician told me “ you got to follow the money”. So why would a man spend 4 million of his money for a $400,000 yr job? So how to make next election honest??? Thank you!!!
Way to go, Gov. Ducey! I don’t know how using the National Guard will complicate matters, but they’re already so bad that stopping illegal immigration in any legal way sounds like a winner to me. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be living in one of our southern border states. Power to the states and to the people!
There is no rational explanation for letting this free-flow of people from countries around the world through our border. Recent reports cite several dozen people on the FBI terrorist watch list getting through. This is a serious breach of national security whether biden realizes it or not. He and his administration are a joke–a bad one, at that. They’re clueless and they don’t care. You’d think the person responsible for keeping America safe would at least give the impression that he’s “working on it”. They don’t even try to hide their ineptness any more. Bizarre.
(P.s., check inside the containers before sealing them.)
Well most people living on the border won’t venture outside their homes without being armed at this point. Can you imagin owning land near the border and being afraid that if you go outside your residence, you might be attacked or killed by literally any of the hundreds or thousands of illegals just marching across your property on a daily basis. Local law enforcement is completely overwhelmed, so people are on their own all along the southern border. It’s like living in the old west of the 1870s, where in parts of the country the nearest lawman was hours or days away.
As for the National Guard, most of them are NOT allowed to carry loaded weapons. They also are being used mostly for processing paperwork back at the Border Patrol offices or field processing centers. They are NOT being used for interdiction of illegals crossing the border. So the cartels don’t fear them and several members of the Guard have been shot at from across the border in Mexico.
The administration is NOT inept. They want a wide-open border to flood various states will illegals to alter the voting demographics in the red and purple states. The administration doesn’t care about the citizens of this nation. They are only concerned with hanging onto power.
PaulE You hit the nail on the head. It’s all about power and control. Wish people who support the Demonrat Party would understand this is no longer the party of the people. It’s the party of which was going to help obama fundamentally transform America. Those plans got pushed aside by President Trump. That’s why they have so much hatred for the man.
These evil people will lie, cheat, and steal to get their agenda moving. I also wouldn’t put physical violence passed these people. To his credit, I think Governor Ducey is doing all he can to stop the flow of illegals into his state. Nice to see some Republicans stand up for their people. Most people aren’t into politics like I am but with the FBI raid at President Trump’s home this week, all of us need to stand up for the principles upon which our country was created. Republicans and Rinos had better start to grow spines and fight back. Truthfully, Americans are going to have to do a little research when they consider who they’ll elect. Complacency is no excuse. We’re at the precipice of saving or losing our great nation. This is a loud and blaring wake-up call and we need to shut off the alarm.
Great comment, MJB!
On your paragraph about the National Guard is correct. I have 2 nephews who are in AZ as part of a contingent of OH NG who are also helping with the monitoring of the border via electronic means in addition to the paperwork that has to be done.
Paul E : Nice comments.Some here are angry. Many tell what Biden is doing etc.No one tells what we should do.I challenge you!!! WHAT should we do to get an honest election????Dems are ch eating to reduce their loses and make it believable the final tally.You can’t win an election after it’s over , ask Trump.We have 70 days to protect America.Look at Sweden the future USA.52% taxes. Govt control even for ceiling fan,chain saw , size of house(1200) sq. ft is a large home.3 generations to pay for house. It’s coming.Bank acct , house inspectors We need ideas now to stop it.May even change our country’s name.
The state legislatures had all of 2021 to ensure they cleaned up their voting procedures to eliminate all the problems that allowed the Democrats a free rein to steer the outcome of the election in Biden’s favor. Massive mail-in balloting, lax of no ID verification, overly extended voting periods that in some cases allowed for ballots to arrive and be counted days after the election, etc. Aside from a handful of states, most states chose to do nothing out of fear that doing something would have validated Trump’s accurate claims and the massive evidence that these states decided to ignore. Now with less than 90 days until the midterms, there is no time left for any of these state legislatures to act. In many cases, their state constitutions restrict making changes in the voting process this close to an election.
I obviously did not expect any Democrat controlled state to change their voting procedures from 2020, because it worked exactly as they intended it to for them. On the Republican controlled state side, we now have a clear picture of which Republican state legislatures and Governors are squarely in the RINO camp. It’s up to the citizens of those states to make the necessary changes, if their vote even matters at that level anymore.
As to us becoming exactly like Europe, I’ve been telling people that here for several years. I’ve been all over Europe for business and pleasure for decades and have watched as every single European country has slid into the morass of becoming a social welfare state modeled on the principles of a socialist democracy. So I’ve already seen our future and have taken proactive steps to insulate myself and my relatves from the sh*t storm heading this country’s way. Personally, I have been prepared for what is going to become of this nation for quite some time. One would have to be a fool not to take the necessary steps to safeguard one’s well being.
The mini Build Back Better bill that was just passed (renamed the ridiculous Reduce Inflation Act) had all the final pieces needed to ensure that future is now locked in for the United States. We will become another failed socialist democracy with European style tax rates of 50 to 70 percent total, a greatly reduced middle class as people find themselves unable to mainatain their standard of living and forced to downsize, a much higher cost of living as food, energy, transportation costs all continue to rise to catch up to European levels, and generally a far lower, limited quality of life standard as the federal government controls much more aspects of the economy and our every day lives.
Future generations, if they even have access to unbiased historical information, will wonder how we as a nation could have been to utterly stupid to allow our country and our rights and freedoms to be stripped away without even pushing back. Especially when we had so many examples all around us throughout the world as to what the destructive policies of the Democrats would do to our country.
Great comment, Paul!
Smart move on part of Arizona! Send Bill to Biden!