We’re all familiar with the Great Wall of China. And some of you may have heard of the Great Hedge in India, used by the British to control the salt trade. Well, now another type of barrier – in Arizona – may go down in the history books. Decrying an “invasion” from Mexico, outgoing Governor Doug Ducey has tried to contain it with – well – containers.
Using 9’ by 40’, 8800-pound shipping containers owned by the state, Ducey has been plugging holes in Donald Trump’s notorious border wall.
The containers are topped with razor wire and currently stretch for some 3 miles. Ducey had started around Yuma, but now has plans to spend $95 million adding another 10 miles – likely a complete waste of money, considering that incoming governor Katie Hobbs has promised to remove the ad hoc barrier.
Ducey is also almost certainly trespassing on federal land.
“There’s just no question that this is federal property,” Dinah Bear, formerly with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, told The Guardian. “There’s no legal difference between the land they’re putting the shipping containers on and Grand Canyon national park.”
Ducey filed a lawsuit in October disputing this fact, which is now before Judge David Campbell. The U.S. Forest Service is looking for a court order to avoid any conflict with local authorities.
In addition to the U.S. government, the Cocopah Indian Tribe has also spoken out against Ducey’s wall, saying that some of it encroaches upon their reservation.
And there’s been criticism from scientists as well: the Center for Biological Diversity has noted that the containers hurt certain migratory species that typically cross over the area.
Of course, keeping out migrating animals and keeping out humans are two entirely different balls of wax. Generally, such obstacles don’t pose much of a challenge to human crossers, especially since they can be extraordinarily difficult to guard.
It’s reported that the Great Hedge in India took some 12,000 British officers working in shifts to maintain.
Quiet in the borderlands yesterday at Gov Ducey’s illegal border wall. Protesters have stopped construction for seven days now. Contractors were building a 10th of a mile a day. They haven’t built a 10th of a mile in a week. They can’t remove people from public land. pic.twitter.com/daXDQU0mn1
— Russ McSpadden (@PeccaryNotPig) December 6, 2022
Also worth noting is the fact that – despite Republican claims to the contrary – the overwhelming majority of illegal drugs that come over the border – more than 90% – come through legal points of entry and through the mail.
Fentanyl isn’t being carried by undocumented workers trying to sneak into the country; it’s going through the ports of California and being delivered by the USPS.
Ducey is probably just trying to stand out in a field of Republican hardliners (some might say “assholes” is a more apt description).
There’s Greg Abbott of Texas, who has been shipping out migrants by bus. And Ron DeSantis, who is so intent on being an asshole that he literally goes to other states to find undocumented workers to abuse.
Douchey (whoops! – meant Ducey) is competing against them and perhaps trying to distinguish himself, even if it means wasting tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money on an eyesore that won’t do anything to change the situation.
Good job, Douchey!
Ross may have to stay out of Arizona for a while now. But you can still like him on Twitter! @RossRosenfeld