Monsoon weather causes major problems with border wall construction

Sheriff's department shares what law enforcement has been experiencing

CONCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY/CNN) - Though monsoon weather has mainly hit the Northern East Coast, it still impact Arizonans. Closer to home, heavy rains and recent flooding have caused major problems along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Describing the damage, Sheriff Mark Dannels with the Cochise County Sheriff's Department says, "This is what the project looked like back in march, you can see they were working to build a bridge however since then those has been removed and this is what it looks like now -- debris in every flood gate."

Deputies say border-construction sites have turned into unproductive messes. The displaced ground currently prevents local law enforcement from navigating roads and thoroughly patrolling the area.

"Whether it's up on the side of the mountain or down here in the lowlands, the border's a mess," expressed Sheriff Dannels. "When we can't get up and down the border, that only benefits the cartels who are exploiting everything going on in this border."

He confirms 800-900 undocumented migrants are sneaking through unfinished parts of the border wall.

"These flood gates remain open during monsoon, but the sheriff says after the rains come it makes this area very difficult to get to, which allows people to cross from Mexico over this debris and right into the United States," said Sheriff Dannels.

The Army Corps of Engineers commented on the matter saying, "The design for this project includes additional features to slow/stop debris that were not completed before work was paused. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting safety work to secure the project sites and will remove monsoon-related debris that impedes this work."