United States of America, v. Douglas A. Ducey; the State of Arizona; Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs; Kerry L. Muehlenbeck; and Allen Clark
The federal government sued Arizona and its governor, Douglas Ducey, for allegedly trespassing on federal lands by installing hundreds of unauthorized shipping containers along the Mexican border, alleging constitutional violations, interference with easements, ejectment, and trespass in connection with the state’s placement of containers without authorization. Among other allegations, the Government alleges, “Arizona has cut down or removed scores of trees, clogged drainages, and degraded the habitat of species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The shipping containers are blocking approximately thirty naturally occurring ephemeral watercourses, which will interrupt natural watershed patterns, erode soil in the immediate area, and damage vegetation and forage.” The Government’s lawsuit was filed a week before the requisite sixty days will run on the Center for Biological Diversity’s notice of intent to sue Arizona for Endangered Species Act violations in connection with erection of the shipping container wall.
[To accompany Federal Court Case Law Update "United States Sues Arizona Over Shipping Container Border Wall That Has Degraded Wildlife Habitats" from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 169.]