Local Sheriff Accuses Arizona Governor of ‘Illegal Dumping’ Over Border Wall Effort

A long row of double-stacked shipping contrainers provide a new wall between the United States and Mexico in the remote section area of San Rafael Valley, Ariz., on Dec. 8, 2022. (Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s attempt at constructing a border wall to stop an influx of illegal immigrants is now in legal jeopardy after a sheriff alleged Ducey has engaged in illegal dumping.

Arizona’s border with Mexico largely has no barrier to stop illegal immigration, and the Migration Policy Institute estimates that over 200,000 illegal immigrants are present in the state.

Ducey, a Republican, has created a makeshift wall consisting of shipping containers along the state’s border with Mexico.

“The area where they’re placing the containers is entirely on federal land, on national forest land,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway told FOX 10 Phoenix. “It’s not state land, it’s not private land, and the federal government has said this is illegal activity. So just the way if I saw somebody doing an assault or a homicide or a vehicle theft on public land within my county, I would charge that person with a crime.”

Hathaway is reportedly going to press charges against the Arizona governor.

Ducey’s response was defiant.

“Our border communities are overwhelmed by illegal activity as a result of the Biden administration’s failure to secure the southern border,” Ducey said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “Arizona is taking action to protest on behalf of our citizens.”

Ducey filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration in October when he was told to stop stacking hundreds of shipping containers in the border wall gaps on federal and tribal lands near Yuma County.

“With this lawsuit, we’re pushing back against efforts by federal bureaucrats to reverse the progress we’ve made,” he added. “The safety and security of Arizona and its citizens must not be ignored. Arizona is going to do the job that Joe Biden refuses to do—secure the border in any way we can. We’re not backing down.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway but did not receive a response.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.