Arizona adds more shipping containers to fill in U.S.-Mexico border wall gaps

Arizona plans to add more shipping containers to fill in the gaps along the border wall between Mexico and the United States as the country continues to see an unprecedented number of migrant crossings.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is sending 300 additional shipping containers to Cochise County to continue filling up the gaps without having explicit permission from the federal government to do so.  

In August, Ducey issued an executive order to fill in the gaps with shipping containers topped with razor wire without waiting for federal permission to do so. 

Each new section of the “border wall” consists of 60 double-staked shipping containers that reach up to 22 feet in height and weigh 8,800 pounds. The containers are being topped off with four feet of razor wire.

"Arizona has had enough," Ducey said in a statement when he announced the plan. "We can’t wait any longer.”

"For the last two years, Arizona has made every attempt to work with Washington to address the crisis on our border. Time and time again we’ve stepped in to clean up their mess. Arizonans can’t wait any longer for the federal government to deliver on their delayed promises," he added.

The carry out the project, the Ducey administration is using $560 million in funds appropriated by the state legislature for border security.

Ducey has already placed more than 160 containers along the border wall in Yuma, Arizona. Since then, border patrol agents claim to have seen fewer migrant encounters, reporting 1,000 fewer than last week.

“While it’s a large number, fluctuation week to week is really not super dramatic,” Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls told NewsNation’s Morning in America. “If we saw a consistent downturn, then I think there’s something to look at.”