In Arizona, immigration and environmental activists are denouncing the illegal construction of a makeshift wall along the U.S.-Mexico border built with double-stacked shipping containers, pieces of metal, and razor wire. The efforts are being led by Republican Governor Doug Ducey, whose government has been trying to fill up the gaps left in former President Trump’s unfinished border wall. Advocates have led mounting actions to block its construction, as they say the wall is destroying precious desert biodiversity and is forcing asylum seekers to find even more dangerous routes to come to the U.S. for refuge. This is immigrant rights activist Karina Ruiz, executive director of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition.

Karina Ruiz: “I think it’s more of a statement that Governor Ducey wants to make because they want to continue with the anti-immigrant rhetoric in the border. I believe that the solution is immigration reform. We’ve been saying it. There has to be a pathway not just for those of us that are in the country already, but also for those that are coming in.”