- The Tohono O'odham Nation sued the federal government in June to block border wall construction.
- A federal judge permitted construction to proceed earlier this month, ruling the wall would be built on the Roosevelt Reservation.
- On Tuesday, about 20 CBP officers and contractors began construction on tribal land, prompting accusations of trespassing.
- Protests erupted in West Texas this month as bulldozers cleared terrain near Big Bend and the Porvenir Massacre site.
- Last week, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott paused construction in Big Bend, but wall construction is still expected near the Ruidosa church.
- The 110-year-old church, El Sagrado Corazón, faces potential damage from construction vibrations.
- The Tohono O'odham Nation argued that the wall would cause significant devastation on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks sacred to the tribe.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection claims the area is a dangerous smuggling route and that building the wall will close a longstanding security gap.
- The Trump administration has begun work on a project to build a stretch of border wall in southern Arizona along part of a Native American tribe's reservation.
Construction of Trump's border wall is raising significant concerns as it threatens a 110-year-old church in Texas and has begun in Arizona, where the Tohono O'odham Nation is protesting the project. The tribe argues that the wall will damage sacred land and violate tribal codes.167
The Tohono O'odham Nation, which spans both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, has accused the Trump administration of trespassing. They claim the construction will cause "significant devastation" to their reservation, including the destruction of sacred mountain peaks. Despite these objections, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) insists that the wall is necessary to close a longstanding security gap in a dangerous smuggling route.389
On October 28, 2023, members of a nonprofit organization celebrated the return of a historic bell from the El Corazón Sagrado church, which is now threatened by the wall's construction. Preservationists warn that the vibrations from the construction could compromise the church's structural integrity. The wall is part of a $46 billion initiative to build 30-foot steel bollard walls and other barriers along the border.
In addition to the church, the wall's construction endangers numerous historical sites across the Southwest, including sacred burial grounds and ancient rock art. Protests have erupted in Texas as bulldozers clear terrain near significant historical locations, with local leaders and landowners filing federal lawsuits against the administration's actions.4
Despite a federal judge ruling in favor of the government, the Tohono O'odham Nation continues to fight against what they see as an infringement on their rights and sacred land.2
“The Tohono O'odham Nation, with 37,000 members, has filed a federal lawsuit and accuses CBP of trespassing, citing drone videos showing 14 vehicles and an industrial drill. In Texas, preservationists warn that construction vibrations could damage the church's fragile adobe structure, despite a temporary pause in Big Bend.”
KCRA
