PERFORMANCE ART FOR A RACIST AUDIENCE:

Republican Doug Ducey ordered the huge line of shipping containers to be placed at the frontier between the United States and Mexico, during the final months of his administration, in what he said was a bid to stem illegal immigration. [...]

Ducey's container wall effort began in the middle of 2022, and quickly ran into opposition, with critics slamming it as a cynical political move that would damage the environment and make no difference to the number of illegal border crossings.

Opponents said the corrugated containers, which snaked like a huge cargo train for four miles (seven kilometers) through federal lands, divided an important conservation area.

They also pointed out that the terrain is so difficult to traverse that people traffickers have never really used it.

In practice, the double-stacked containers were ill-suited to keeping people out -- their rigid shape means they didn't always line up, leaving gaping holes between boxes easily big enough for a person to fit through.

In some areas, the terrain was too steep to accommodate them, and workmen had to leave spaces.

"It's just political gamesmanship," said Bill Wilson from nearby Sierra Vista, as he watched the wall being dismantled on Friday.

"It's a travesty and a waste of government money, tax money, time and effort," the 77-year-old told AFP.

Tweet   @brothersjudd