(NewsNation) — Arizona’s governor vowed Thursday to continue building more barriers along the nation’s southern border.
Right now, 130 shipping containers are stacked up along the border near Yuma, filling in a gap without fencing that stretches more than 3,800 feet.
But critics say hundreds of migrants have still been able to enter the U.S. by simply going around or through the gaps.
Gov. Doug Ducey visited the site of the shipping containers, seeing the $6 million of Arizona taxpayer money at work.
Ducey claims that the Yuma border is more secure, saying that Border Patrol now has operational control.
“Now that we’ve addressed gaps like this in Yuma, we’re looking at other areas of the border, where we can replicate this success quickly, efficiently and safely,” Ducey said.
This all comes as new numbers from Border Patrol show that more than 6,200 migrants crossed into this sector — and at least six convicted felons have been arrested — within a single week.
The governor says this is by design.
“With this solution, migrant traffic is funneled to a few select spots, allowing Border Patrol to focus their limited resources,” the governor said.
The gap runs into the Cocopah Reservation, where barriers cannot be placed. Still, the governor says this space does allow for operational control and allows the Border Patrol agents to focus on one area.
“There’s some conversations along the way because it is a patchwork of both private sector, state land, tribal land and federal land,” Ducey explained.
The governor says the shipping containers help the local community. The Yuma County sheriff says that is the main reason authorities wanted the barriers in place.
“DPS is each and every day out in the eastern part of the country because we’re hit. We needed the help and this has freed up some of our officers to be able to go do that,” the sheriff said.
Despite the governor claiming they have operational control, he is still calling on the federal government to act.
“We have shown you that you can strengthen our border, if you make it a priority. Border security is possible,” the governor said.
The Biden administration has promised to fill some of the gaps in the border wall, but a timeline has not been set yet for that project.
