(NewsNation) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will add more shipping containers to gaps in the border wall between the United States and Mexico in an effort to mitigate the number of migrants coming across the border unchecked.
Cochise County, Arizona, is receiving 300 shipping containers from Ducey to be added to the hundreds of others already spanning the gaps where U.S. Forest land prohibits the building of a wall.
The project is being paid for out of $560 million in funds appropriated by the state legislature for border security.
In Yuma, Arizona, where 160 shipping containers were placed along a gap in the border wall about six weeks ago, migrant encounters are beginning to decline. The sector reported nearly 1,000 fewer encounters than last week.
Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls said on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” that this 1,000 is just part of the “ebb and flow” of migrants that happens in the area.
“While it’s a large number, fluctuation week to week is really not super dramatic,” Nicholls said. “If we saw a consistent downturn, then I think there’s something to look at.”
One space along the wall was left open because it runs into tribal land, but Ducey says the project was successful as it does act as a funnel to help give Border Patrol agents operational control.