PHOENIX – The Trump administration has started constructing a portion of the border wall in southern Arizona, which crosses onto the land of a Native American tribe. This project has sparked protests from the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose ancestral territory spans both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims that this area is known for illegal smuggling activities and that the wall will help close a security gap. However, many members of the Tohono O’odham Nation argue that this construction violates their land rights and threatens sacred sites important to their culture.
The current segment of the border wall is part of a larger $46 billion initiative by the Trump administration, aimed at erecting a series of 30-foot (9-meter) steel bollard walls and other barriers along the border to deter undocumented immigration and smuggling. As the wall’s construction progresses, it has faced significant opposition from local landowners, environmental groups, and Indigenous tribes, all of whom have raised concerns about property rights and the desecration of sacred sites.
On Tuesday, the Tohono O’odham Nation reported that about 20 CBP officers began construction early in the morning on their land. Drone footage shared by tribal officials showed numerous vehicles and heavy machinery at the site.
A federal judge had previously permitted the government to proceed with construction, ruling that the wall would be built on a federally owned 60-foot (18-meter) buffer zone known as the Roosevelt Reservation. Judge Richard Leon stated that there were no plans to construct beyond this designated area. However, the Tohono O’odham Nation maintains that accessing this land still constitutes trespassing, as it involves driving onto their tribal land.
The tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal government in June to try to halt the construction, emphasizing the potential damage to their land and the destruction of sacred mountain peaks. Tribal officials expressed that the wall would lead to “significant devastation” within their reservation.
Despite the ruling, the Tohono O’odham Nation contends that the contractors working with CBP are violating tribal codes and have entered their territory without permission. They reported that armed CBP agents established a blockade to prevent tribal police from intervening with the construction activities, despite the tribe having placed “No Trespassing” signs in the area.
So far, there have been no reports of confrontations between the Tohono O’odham Nation members and law enforcement, but tensions remain high. In their defense, CBP stated that the wall is essential for stopping drug smuggling in the region, describing it as a dangerous corridor that has been linked to drug trafficking and migrant deaths.
The Tohono O’odham Nation is currently considering additional legal actions to remove the contractors from their land. The construction company involved, SLSCO Ltd., has received over $390 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security for this project since 2023.
