Video screenshot taken from the Tohono O’odham Nation website showing a road on a Native American reservation in Arizona (USA). EFE/Screenshot/Tohono O’odham Nation
Tucson, Arizona (USA), June 17 (EFE) – The Tohono O’odham Nation has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to try to prevent the construction of the border wall on its lands in Arizona.
“We have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent the use of our lands and natural resources to build a border wall,” said Verlon Jose, president of the Tohono O’odham Nation, in a video posted on social media Wednesday.
He explained that the lawsuit, filed yesterday in court, was necessary because the DHS will award the contract to a construction company to build the border wall within their territory in the coming weeks.
The nation shares approximately 1,000 kilometers (62 miles) of border with Mexico and has consistently expressed its opposition to the construction of a border wall, favoring the use of advanced technology.
The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is violating the rights of the Native American Nation by illegally seizing their land for the construction of the border wall.
They also argue that the contractors and DHS are trespassing on the nation’s sovereign territory and emphasize that the wall’s construction will destroy sites considered sacred to their culture, sites that are part of ancestral rituals.
“We have already seen the irreparable damage the border wall has caused along the border and at other sacred sites,” said Jose.
The Native American Nation maintains that it has worked with the federal government on national security for decades, allowing the installation of vehicle barriers, sensors, patrol roads, and providing assistance to the Border Patrol.
They assert that in the last two years, migrant crossings have decreased by more than 90% within their territory, making the wall’s construction unnecessary.
During his second term, Trump has made continuing the construction of the border wall along the Mexican border a top priority.
To achieve this, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has overturned more than a dozen laws protecting the environment and endangered species to expedite the construction of the controversial infrastructure in the name of national security.
According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), approximately 737 kilometers (458 miles) of border wall system were built during Trump’s first term (2017-2021), although only about 84 kilometers (52 miles) were new barriers. In his second term, the DHS has awarded contracts for an additional 370 kilometers (230 miles) in various phases of construction.
