Samuel Case, FISM News 

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Amidst historic waves of illegal immigration, Arizona and Texas are taking steps to secure the southern border on their own.

The Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs refused this week to remove shipping containers used to secure gaps in the border wall in Yuma, Arizona, World reported. 

The shipping containers were ordered by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey this summer but were recently declared illegal by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. State officials intend to keep the makeshift wall in place until the federal government provides a plan to complete the wall. 

“The containers will remain in place until specific details regarding construction are provided,” Arizona’s Department of Emergency and Military Affairs said in a letter to the Bureau. 

Meanwhile, the state of Texas is buying up parcels of land to finish the border wall. “Thirty-two land tracts have either closed agreements reached and/or pending closing at title companies,” Texas Facilities Commission Executive Director Mike Novak said.

The commission approved $307 million to build 14 miles of border wall in late September, ADN America reported.

“This program is an all-hands-on-deck priority for our agency, obviously, and we’re moving forward as quickly as possible,” Novak said.

Republican leaders in Texas and Arizona have taken drastic measures to respond to the border crisis, drawing national attention by busing illegal immigrants to so-called “sanctuary cities,” like Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York City.

Recent polling shows that 57% of Americans support building a wall along the southern border.