For more than six years, the Tohono O’odham Nation has battled the Department of Homeland Security over its efforts to build a border wall between Arizona and Mexico. Now, the Nation is filing a lawsuit and seeking an injunction against the department in hopes of halting the project, part of President Donald Trump’s long-promised barricade along the southern border.
“The Nation has been forced to take this action now because in the coming weeks DHS will issue contracts for border wall construction on the Nation’s lands,” the Nation said in a news release Wednesday.
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It comes after years of concern over construction damaging sacred Native American sites, something Arizona saw just last month.
Tohono O’odham files lawsuit
The Nation filed its lawsuit Wednesday, saying the DHS plans would “illegally violate the Nation’s rights as a sovereign tribe.”
“DHS’s construction of a border wall would take the Nation’s land and diminish the size of the Nation’s reservation,” the Nation said in a statement. “Further, DHS and its contractors would be trespassing on the Nation’s land in violation of the Nation’s right to the exclusive use of its reservation and resources.”
Tohono O’odham said it has long been on the front lines of border protection, actively supporting the federal government’s border measures. The tribe has approved construction for on-reservation border vehicle barriers, patrol roads, surveillance towers and Border Patrol operating bases.
But the Nation says it has consistently made clear that it was supporting the measures to ensure a static border wall would not be constructed on the lands.
“We have tried to work with the Department on the border wall issue, but it insists on rushing forward with construction,” said Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose. “We have been left with no other choice but to file suit to protect our land, our culture, and our rights.”
In response to a request for comment, a DHS spokesperson said, “Secretary Mullin is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and made clear during his confirmation hearing that he respects tribal sovereignty. DHS is committed to ongoing coordination with stakeholders, including tribal nations, throughout planning and construction activities. DHS values its relationship with the Tohono O’odham Nation and remains focused on open communication and minimizing impacts.”
A long-fought battle
Wednesday’s lawsuit is not the first time the Nation has spoken out against the construction of the border wall. In fact, it’s been happening since Trump launched efforts to build the wall during his first term.
In 2019, Trump waived dozens of laws, including measures to protect Native American burial sites, to speed construction. That decision was met with outcry from the Tohono O’odham Nation, which called construction efforts and dynamite explosions “crimes against humanity.”
“Tell me where your grandparents are buried and let me dynamite their graves,” Jose said at the time. “This wall is already putting a scar across our heart.”
The outcry prompted numerous Arizona lawmakers to intervene, but with few results. They specifically spoke out against potential damage to sacred sites, something the Nation also mentioned in its lawsuit Wednesday.
Damaged sacred sites
Tohono O’odham says the border wall construction would destroy sacred sites and “impact important ceremonies and religious practices.” And should that be the case, it wouldn’t be the first time a Native site was damaged during construction.
In May, construction crews ran heavy machinery through part of an intaglio near the Tohono O’odham Nation, a more than 200-foot ground etching shaped like a fish and believed to be at least 1,000 years old.
The intaglio sits inside the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, which is managed by the Interior Department. However, the site was made by the Hia-ced O’odham Indigenous people.
It’s just one of several sacred sites in the area — sites the Tohono O’odham Nation has expressed concerns about.
The Nation raised alarms about other culturally significant sites along the wall’s proposed path, including Quitobaquito Springs and a Native American grave site.
“We would prefer to be using our precious resources to improve the lives of our Nation members,” Jose said. “We are hopeful that DHS will reconsider moving forward with a border wall and instead implement modern border protection measures. But if they insist on an illegal wall, we will stand up for what is right.”
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