Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey agreed to dismantle a border wall constructed from shipping containers to settle a lawsuit with the Department of Justice.
Ducey began the project to fill in the gaps in the border wall. He wanted to stop more illegal border crossings, which have been straining the small towns along the border.
The DOJ filed the lawsuit a week ago:
After a two-week standoff between protesters and construction crews building a border wall made of shipping containers, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Arizona, accusing it of trespassing on federal land.The lawsuit asks for “immediate injuctive relief prohibiting” the state from continuing work on the wall, which federal officials say is being built on federal land without the required permits or authority.”Arizona has unlawfully and without authority failed to remove the shipping containers from lands owned by the United States or over which the United States holds easements, thereby damaging the United States,” the complaint reads.
Ducey agreed to stop building the wall and remove the erected containers by January 4.
“Arizona agrees to maintain its cessation of activity on National Forest System lands within the Coronado National Forest for any purpose relating to installing shipping containers along the international border (where ‘installing’ includes, but is not limited to, movement of equipment, staging, roadwork, welding, and installation of concertina wire),” according to the court document. “In moving shipping containers, equipment, and construction materials to cease its installation activities, Arizona will confer with representatives from the U.S. Forest Service for safety purposes and to avoid and minimize damage to the United States’ lands, properties, and natural resources.”
The removal will occur on land in the Border Patrol Yuma Sector and the National Forest System in the Coronado National Forest.
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