Native American Tribe Sues US Government Over Border Wall Construction on Sacred Land

On August 14, federal Judge Richard Leon refused to issue a preliminary injunction to halt construction of the border wall on Tohono O'odham tribal land. The ruling paved the way for construction to begin on the morning of Tuesday, August 19, within tribal territory.

According to a statement from the Tohono O'odham tribe, approximately 20 masked and armed officers from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) accompanied construction workers to three sites before dawn. CBP also prevented tribal police from issuing citations to contractors for trespassing.

CBP secured the area with a "vehicle barrier" and deployed an armed SWAT team to protect the contractors. Mexican police were also present to observe, and a tethered surveillance balloon was deployed in the area.

The Tohono O'odham tribe stated: "Currently, interactions between tribal police and federal law enforcement are peaceful and professional. We will continue to monitor the situation."

The Tohono O'odham are a federally recognized tribe with about 37,000 members, living along roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the US-Mexico border. Their territory spans across Arizona in the US and Sonora in Mexico. Many tribal members live on both sides of the border and routinely cross without passports, using only tribal ID cards.

Under US law, federally recognized tribes are considered "domestic dependent nations," with sovereignty over their lands and exemption from state law. However, relations between them and the US government are often tense, especially in lawsuits over the extent of federal interference in tribal territory.

The conflict dates back to the first Trump administration (2017–2021), when the president proposed building a wall along the border to curb illegal immigration. Many indigenous groups, including the Tohono O'odham, opposed the plan over fears it would destroy sensitive habitats, sacred sites, and other parts of tribal land.

In June, the Tohono O'odham legislative body voted unanimously to sue the Trump administration over efforts to seize tribal land for the border wall. The tribe said it had closely cooperated with federal authorities to prevent illegal immigration and drug trafficking, spending millions of dollars on these efforts. They claim cross-border apprehensions have dropped by more than 95% thanks to their work.

The tribe asserts that trespassing on their land to build the wall violates indigenous rights and stresses they were not consulted before construction began. The tribal government argues that the Department of Homeland Security "has chosen to ignore our sovereignty, disregard proven border security strategies, and downplay the irreparable environmental and cultural destruction that will follow."

"We had no other choice. We wanted to use our resources for the lawsuit to directly serve tribal members. But our priority has ALWAYS been to protect our people and culture and fight for what is right," the tribal government statement said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues that land along the border does not belong to the tribe, citing an 1907 declaration that a ~18-meter (60-foot) strip around the border is federal land for security purposes. However, a 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that border wall construction damaged indigenous lands, including "blasting at tribal burial sites and altering water flows."

In recent months, the Tohono O'odham have erected large warning signs against trespassing on their reservation.