This curious cavalcade marked what may be the next phase of the monthslong saga that has resulted in the destruction of miles of Southern Arizona wilderness and has cost the State of Arizona over $108 million dollars for what amounts to four miles of discarded scrap metal.

Since the project began in late October, workers have feverishly placed hundreds of shipping containers along the Arizona/Sonora border in Southern Cochise County.

Workers have been staging the containers on an 88-acre plot of land in an unincorporated area of Cochise County, halfway between Whetstone and Huachuca City off Arizona State Highway 90. Photo by David Taylor.

Although Governor Doug Ducey’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the site, the aggregation of hundreds of shipping containers at this location in the midst of the massive operation along the border strongly suggests that the site is linked to the project.

In an official response to the DOJ’s notice of intent to file legal action submitted on Dec. 12, Governor Ducey’s office announced on Dec. 13 that “construction” of the shipping container barrier “has ceased.”

The letter appears to correspond with the mass exodus of shipping containers from the storage site. Governor Ducey’s office even asserted a willingness to remove the container wall, but only on the condition that the federal government construct a permanent wall in its place.