Biden’s Plan to End Border Wall Work Draws Appeal by Arizona

Arizona told the Ninth Circuit it should reverse a judge’s order and block the Biden administration from ending border wall construction and implementing other related policies because they would increase immigration and harm the environment.

The state challenges a “collection of policies” that it says have the “direct effect of causing growth in the population” in the U.S. and Arizona. The federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider increased air emissions, the effects on wildlife and protected species, and the “proliferation of garbage,” the state says.

Arizona told the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona that the federal government was required to prepare an environmental impact statement before proceeding with the policies. But the state can’t “characterize a ‘mish-mash’ of actions by two different federal agencies as a unitary program,” the court said Feb. 7.

Arizona failed to show that ending border wall construction will increase immigration, according to the ruling. The canceled projects affect 18 miles of territory at most, leaving a number of areas along the Arizona border with no barrier, the court said.

The state also failed to acknowledge that people entering the U.S. have “time and again found ways to overcome and bypass walls on the southern border,” the court said.

Judge Dominic W. Lanza issued the order. The state will challenge that decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, according to a notice filed April 8.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office represents the state. The Department of Justice represents the federal government.

The case is Arizona v. Mayorkas, D. Ariz., No. 2:21-cv-00617, 4/8/22.