PHOENIX — Arizona began moving in shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area.
The state plans to fill three gaps in the border wall constructed during former President Donald Trump’s tenure in the coming weeks totaling 3,000 feet.
“The federal government has committed to doing this, but we cannot wait for their action,” said Katie Ratlief, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s deputy chief of staff.
Arizona has been sending two to three buses of asylum seekers from Yuma to Washington over the last three months as the number of arriving migrants overwhelmed local resources. Ducey began the program in May and has said everyone on the bus trips are going voluntarily to the capital with intended final destinations in East Coast cities.
Despite the federal promise to fill in the gaps, Arizona officials said no action had been taken to actually close the gaps. The federal government apparently put the project out to bid this week, but that may takes weeks or months.
