Arizona refuses U.S. demand to remove shipping containers from border
Marciela Arizmendi | The Republic | azcentral.com
WASHINGTON — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official has expressed concerns about the damage that large bales of marijuana could do to U.S. ports through “environmental impacts” after he urged the Trump administration to remove the shipping containers from a border crossing at San Ysidro.
At a Wednesday press conference after a meeting with President Donald Trump, Customs and Border Protection Chief Carla Provost made clear that she was taking the administration’s “suggestions” into consideration.
“We’ve made some recommendations to them on removal,” Provost said, referring to Customs and Border Protection.
“We’re working with them on that right now, as we should be,” Provost said. “As you know, we’re a nation of laws and we’ve asked them to ensure that we’re following the law and doing everything we can to minimize the damage that can come from the actions of smugglers.”
She also said that she had received “a lot of questions” from the U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees border crossings, about the border crossing at San Ysidro, where Customs and Border Protection has removed 11 shipping containers from a crossing that opened Feb. 1.
About three days after the containers were removed, Customs and Border Protection learned about complaints from U.S. ports about the large bales of marijuana.
Officials at the Ports of Call — San Diego, New York and Miami — said that the bales posed a potential threat to seaports because of their weight and size and that they had complained about the containers before they were removed.
In the letter, Provost acknowledged that the containers pose risk to ports. But Customs and Border Protection has no control over how much it takes to load them onto a ship, she said.
“We also do not take responsibility for the safety of the shipping container, which is in the hands of its owner,” Prov