Arizona governor builds border wall of shipping crates | First Thing

Critics say Republican Doug Ducey's scheme is illegal because makeshift barrier is being erected on tribal and federal land. Plus, California's new wolf pack

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Good morning.

A makeshift barrier built with shipping containers is being illegally erected along part of the US-Mexico border by Arizona's Republican governor - before he has to hand over the keys of his office to his Democratic successor in January.

What has the reaction been like? The US Bureau of Reclamation and the Cocopah tribal nation said Ducey was violating federal law by placing the containers on federal and tribal land there. In a letter, the bureau demanded that the state remove the containers.

Has the state started taking down the barrier? No, and it has since been emboldened to embark on the larger project now proceeding apace more than 300 miles to the east.

What has Sinema said? In a separate prerecorded interview that also aired Sunday on State of the Union, Sinema continued defending her defection from the Democrats as a stand against being beholden to party interests. I know this is really hard for lots of folks, especially [on Capitol Hill], but what's important to me is ... to not be tethered by the partisanship that dominates politics today," she said.