(The Center Square) - Federal and state lawmakers in Arizona are responding to news that the state could recoup money spent by the Doug Ducey administration to turn shipping containers into a border wall.
The former governor, who's a Republican, used $196 million for the makeshift border wall, which involved approximately 2,200 shipping containers. The wall lasted five months. Half the money was spent on construction, the other half on its removal.
Funding for the reimbursement was in a bill approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Arizona, told The Center Square reimbursement is the right thing to do.
"Because of the Biden administration's concerted campaign to allow for the flood of illegal aliens and deadly drugs, Republican leadership in Arizona did what it could to protect residents at great expense,” said Hamadeh. “Now it is up to us to reimburse states for border security spending during Joe Biden’s failed presidency.
Hamadeh added that “the expenses incurred by the state of Arizona and others was a direct result of the Democrats' failure to take border security seriously.” The representative also said Democrats “failed to recognize the threat that an open border was” to Americans, the very people Hamadeh said they promised to protect.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, told The Center Square that the federal government “has a duty to secure the border” and prevent what he called “the horrific flow of cartel criminal activity” from hitting Arizona communities.
“Sadly, under the Biden Administration, the red carpet was rolled out for criminal illegal aliens,” said Petersen. “While Arizona Democrats sat silent on the sidelines, Arizona Republicans took matters into our own hands, using state resources to mitigate the border crisis and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs, D-Arizona, campaigned against the border wall, something she referred to as a political stunt. Hobbs was quoted as saying she would explore all options to remove the border wall.
Petersen said he is pleased Congress and the Trump administration are working to reimburse states who spent hundreds of millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars to prioritize national security “during this dark period when Biden, Harris and Mayorkas refused to do so.” Alejandro Mayorkas was the secretary of homeland security during the Biden administration.
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