Physically blockading these construction machines is dangerous, and Unicorn Riot reports that it was even more so when protestors initially arrived at the dumping site. Blockaders told the outlet that Ducey’s workers continued working around them as they tried to position themselves among the containers.
“At first, they were really driving their machines around us really fast,” one blockader named Ary told Unicorn Riot. “Even just the other night, they were still doing that and digging the ground right from under our feet with their excavators, driving very close to people. I think that that just really shows how much money means to these people rather than human life.”
The outlet said that its report last weekend that “Thursday was the first day the workers didn’t come to the site at all,” with only a security guard remaining on site. The guard was not hostile, at times chatting with blockaders.
Arizona Daily Star also reported on demonstrators blocking further piling of the unlawful “wall,” which Ducey has dropped without permission on federally controlled land in the Coronado National Forest. It’s an ugly joke that does zip to address complex immigration issues, but is being actively damaging to endangered animals protected under federal law. Unicorn Riot reports that the federal government, through the U.S. Forest Service, has called the piling “unauthorized,” “unlawful,” and has warned visitors to stay away in part due to “unauthorized armed security personnel on-site.”
“Despite these proclamations, federal officials have refused to intervene—in the shipping container piling or its opposition,” the report continued.
“Endangered species come through here, people come through here,” blockader Logan said in the report. “All life has moved, has migrated, historically. That’s just part of the way the world works. I think cutting it off doesn’t make any sense. It’s very disruptive to communities, both human and non-human. It’s important to keep open the free flow of life.”
Another blockader, Bill Scheel, told Arizona Daily Star called it “neat” that their “presence here has almost completely shut it down. We’re obeying the law. They’re the ones who are disobeying the law.”
While Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs has previously said that the containers would come down if elected, the Associated Press (AP) reports that’s still deciding exactly what to do. Environmentalists are also closely watching. The AP, in a ridiculous tweet promoting its piece, actually claimed that Ducey’s stunt “makes a bold show of border enforcement.” Please. It’s an unserious, illegal, and damaging pile of shipping containers, that’s all.
Hobbs said in the AP piece that she’s concerned about the costs to Arizona taxpayers should she remove the miles of containers. But that’s on Ducey and the Republicans who supported his unlawful plan, and she should make clear over and over again to Arizonans how Republicans purposefully engage in extremism and lawlessness so costly and damaging it can extend even after they’re out of office. It’s going to cost us X millions of dollars to fix this, and that’s on Doug Ducey.
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