Tohono O'odham Tribe Seeks Court Halt to U.S. Border Wall on Arizona Reservation

The Tohono O'odham Nation filed a lawsuit in a Washington, D.C. federal court, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security is illegally taking tribal land to build a section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The tribe claims the wall would destroy sacred sites and violates its sovereign rights. Judge Richard Leon heard the tribe’s arguments, noting that the reservation spans about 1,000 km (62 miles) of the border. Congresswoman Raúl Grijalva (D‑AZ) said the construction is illegal and would cause irreversible cultural damage. The tribe says migration across its lands has fallen more than 90 % in the past two years and favors modern surveillance technology over a physical barrier.

The suit challenges a Trump‑administration priority to complete the wall, which has involved rolling back environmental protections to accelerate construction.