REPRIMANDED

Arizona Guv Broke Law With Barriers on Border, Feds Say

State officials placed 130 shipping containers along the border with Mexico after the governor accused the Biden administration of inaction.

Arizona’s governor has been accused of violating federal law with the state’s “unauthorized placement” of more than 100 shipping containers along the border with Mexico. The Bureau of Reclamation, in a letter signed Thursday, called on authorities to remove the 130 shipping containers that were placed along the border after Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order in August giving state authorities the right to erect barriers on federal land, a move he argued was necessary in light of inaction by the Biden administration. “The unauthorized placement of those containers constitutes a violation of federal law and is a trespass against the United States,” the feds said in their letter reprimanding the move. “That trespass is harming federal lands and resources and impeding Reclamation’s ability to perform its mission.” Ducey’s office used the letter as an opportunity to take another jab at the Biden administration, with a spokesperson telling the Arizona Republic that state officials want to see a contract showing the barrier gaps will be filled before they remove the containers. “We’ve been hearing for months now that (the Biden Administration) was planning to do something and they've done nothing,” C.J. Karamargin was quoted saying.