The Biden administration is privately pushing Arizona leaders to take down its temporary wall along the Mexican border with the promise that the federal government will install a new temporary barrier sometime in 2023, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s spokesman told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday evening that Washington’s latest proposal in the fight over securing the border in western Arizona is not something the state will even consider.
“The suggestion by any federal bureaucracy, that we take action to make the border easier to cross, is completely unacceptable. Gov. Ducey takes the responsibility to protect Arizona very seriously — that’s why we put up these containers,” said Ducey’s communications director, C.J. Karamargin, in a call Wednesday evening. “What they’re suggesting, that we take them down and make Arizona less safe, is a nonstarter.”
The outright refusal on Arizona’s part is the latest move in a game of chess between state and federal officials over border security, a matter that is the responsibility of the federal government.
