NOW! Border Wall Construction Crews on Tohono O'odham Nation

Photos courtesy Tadai Me:i

NOW! Border Wall Construction Crews on Tohono O'odham Nation 

Update: Just before noon today, the contractor's drill was set up, surrounded by a swarm of US Border Patrol agents. The Tohono O'odham Nation said the 
Border Patrol has set up a vehicle barrier to prevent tribal police from entering the area on their tribal land and issuing citations. The heavy-handed U.S. security on tribal land at the site includes the U.S. Border Patrol special ops, the BORTAC SWAT team based in El Paso, BIA officers and Border Patrol from Tucson. Mexico's police have been deployed to protect border wall contractors from the Mexico side.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 26, 2026

SELLS, TOHONO O'odham Nation -- The Tohono O'odham Nation said that twenty masked and armed federal agents from Tucson entered their sovereign tribal land accompanying border wall construction crews at 4 am on Tuesday, in violation of tribal sovereignty.

The U.S. Border Patrol has police in Mexico on standby on the south side of the border, ready to deploy to assist the U.S. government and to protect construction crews, the tribe said.

The U.S. plans to build a double wall with a service road, and heavy equipment staging area on tribal land, without consent, the documents state in the recent federal court case. A federal judge ruled against the tribe, and denied an injunction to stop construction of the walls.

Mexico's Police Protecting Contractors on O'odham Land

Mexico's Police Protecting Contractors on O'odham Land

On Wednesday, Mexico's police were deployed to the border on the southside, ancestral O'odham land, after the U.S. requested them to provide additional security for border wall contractors who are now illegally on the sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation land and drilling. The border wall crews are surrounded by BORTAC, border patrol special ops, BIA cops and Border Patrol agents from Tucson for the protection of border wall contractors.

The U.S. Border Patrol set up a vehicle barrier to prevent tribal police from issuing citations. See video https://www.facebook.com/100091136269187/videos/pcb.1016679418046591/1387121183556040

Now, Tadai Me:I reports from the prayer camp, with photos, that construction crews and a drilling rig arrived at the tribe's border today, Wednesday, at 7 am.

Tadai Me:i Reports:

"S-ke:g Si’alig!
"Reporting from Ko:li Ki:jig, early this morning border contractors and drilling equipment arrived on the Nation’s border.

"O’odham at the prayer camp are sharing these photos of CBP surveillance, road blocks and equipment nearby.

"We call on O’odham to come down and support the protection of the fire, hold the line and observe what is taking place. We could also use firewood and sugai.

"No matter what happens, we’ll see it through for us to tell our story.

"There are hundreds of thousands of reasons to protect our ancestors buried along their path, and the sacred and historical sites that mark our existence as O’odham in these lands we call home.

"Please share and spread the word! S-ap’e!":
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Tohono O'odham Nation said construction crews were escorted on to tribal land by masked and armed federal agents. 

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Border Wall Town Hall in Ajo, Arizona. Photo by International Sonoran Desert Alliance.

Border Wall Town Hall in Ajo, Arizona, on Monday

Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva joined Tohono O'odham leaders for a Border Wall Town Hall in Ajo, Arizona, on Monday.

After visiting the sacred springs, Grijalva said, "Quitobaquito Springs is a sacred and cultural site home to endangered species that Trump wants to bulldoze through for an unnecessary second wall."

"I'm urging the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Interior to halt construction immediately and will introduce legislation to stop DHS from waiving crucial laws in order to speed up border-wall construction."

"Trump can't bulldoze tribal sovereignty!"

Article copyright Censored News 2026