Tohono O'odham Nation Denied Injunction to Halt Border Wall
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| Photo: Border Wall construction near Yuma, Arizona. Photo US Army Corps of Engineers. |
A federal judge's rejection of the Tohono O'odham Nation's lawsuit to stop construction of the border wall means the blowing up of six mountain peaks and a heavy construction staging area on tribal land to be chosen by contractors. The Nation is now considering its options.
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| Photo courtesy tree sitters in Lochiel, Arizona |
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 15, 2026, Updated
"We strongly disagree with this ruling and are considering all possible options for moving forward," Chairman Verlon Jose and Vice Chairwoman Carla Johnson said in a statement.
"The primary concern is that the court did not adequately address many critical issues that the construction of a border wall will have on our Nation, our people, our land our culture. It is imperative that these concerns be addressed before any construction or pre-construction activities are done by the federal government on our land."
Homeland Security and Border Patrol plan to blow up six mountain peaks on the Tohono O'odham Nation for the border wall, court documents reveal.
And they plan a construction staging area on tribal land, with the site to be chosen by contractors. The federal judge said its not trespass, and the 60 feet along the border is likely 'Roosevelt Reservation' and belongs to the federal government. The question remains, how will they build two border walls parallel to each other, and a service road, in 60 feet.
The Tohono O'odham Nation said this has been O'odham land since time immemorial and alerted tribal police to remove any construction contractors who try to enter their sovereign land. The Roosevelt Reservation was created in 1907 by a presidential proclamation and runs along the border from Calif. through New Mexico. Obviously a question of debate, and potentially a matter for more court action.
Responding the judge's denial of the lawsuit, the Tohono O'odham Nation said, "As the nation's executive leadership, working with the Legislative Council, we have a responsibility to fight for our people, our land, and our culture, our sovereign rights as a Nation and the lands we have inhabited since time immemorial."
Pointing out that the border wall will destroy sacred sites, damage the environment and further separate O'odham, tribal leaders said sacred places have already been desecrated.
Responding the judge's denial of the lawsuit, the Tohono O'odham Nation said, "As the nation's executive leadership, working with the Legislative Council, we have a responsibility to fight for our people, our land, and our culture, our sovereign rights as a Nation and the lands we have inhabited since time immemorial."
Pointing out that the border wall will destroy sacred sites, damage the environment and further separate O'odham, tribal leaders said sacred places have already been desecrated.
"We have seen this happen to our traditional lands outside our reservation, the Las Playas Intaglio, Quitobaquito Springs, Monument Hill and countless others. In many of these cases, federal authorities were aware these were protected areas, but they were still desecrated."
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., ruled the tribe hasn't established that a border wall will change its reservation boundaries without congressional authority, The judge also rejected the tribe's claim that the planned border wall would illegally trespass on its reservation.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., ruled the tribe hasn't established that a border wall will change its reservation boundaries without congressional authority, The judge also rejected the tribe's claim that the planned border wall would illegally trespass on its reservation.
“And in any event, I find that the Government’s interests in securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and ensuring public safety outweigh any surviving irreparable harms at this juncture,” Judge Leon wrote.
"Given the national security and foreign policy considerations related to the border wall, deference to the government is warranted,'' he wrote.
The tribe's lawsuit against U.S. Homeland Security is being heard by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Homeland Security said the proposed border wall project, includes a “new 30-ft primary vertical barrier” and a “secondary vertical barrier within [sixty feet of the international boundary line]. The contractors “shall have full use of the project real estate limits,” but that “[l]ocating and acquiring staging areas on private lands” and “construction access road[s]” will be the “responsibility of the contractor.”
Judge Expects Government to Consult with Tribe
"Many O’odham families retain deeply rooted connections to Mexico. They have family there. They bury their dead in ancestral cemeteries there, which they visit regularly so that the dead know they are not forgotten, and because there are religious duties the O’odham must fulfill in the years following the loss of a loved one."
After rejecting the Tohono O'doham Nation's arguments, Judge Leon said in his closing remarks in the order that he expects the government to follow through with consultation and cooperation with the Tohono O'odham Nation.
"The international border is an area of great significance to both the United States
and to the Nation. While I have concluded that a preliminary injunction is unwarranted, I
fully expect the Government in the months ahead to follow through on its guarantees of
consultation and cooperation with the Nation to address the Nation's concerns regarding
border wall construction!"
Judge Leon directed his final comments to the defendants, named by the tribe as the officials at Homeland Security and the U.S. Border Patrol.
Judge Leon ruling said Homeland Security stated that some of the environmental and First Amendment issues could be mitigated. The judge said the government has not finalized its border wall plans.
The judge referred to Homeland Security's statement that some issues could be mitigated. This includes the possible addition of crossing gates for O'odham to pass through.
The judge was referring to the fact that O'odham live on both sides of the international border and cross for family and Ceremonial reasons.
In addition, the judge said a 60-foot-wide stretch of land known as the Roosevelt Reservation "likely" exists along the border of the Tohono O'odham Nation. He said there is no indication that the border wall will be built beyond the 60 feet.
Judge Leon was referring to the Roosevelt Reservation, established by a presidential proclamation of President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. The 60-foot-wide strip was established as a buffer zone to prevent smuggling. The federal government claims the 60-mile-wide stretch along the border in California, Arizona and New Mexico belongs to the government.
While denying the Tohono O'odham's injunction, the judge stated the claims of the plaintiff, the tribe, and the defendants, Homeland Security.
"Plaintiff argues that the planned border wall will inflict irreparable harm to its
sovereignty and proprietary control over its lands, as well as cause environmental and First
Amendment harms. See Mot. at 41--43.
"Plaintiff's alleged harms based on its claim to the
land leading up to the international border are not likely to materialize because, as
explained supra Section I.A.2., the Roosevelt Reservation likely exists along the Nation's
border, and defendants have not yet articulated plans to construct outside the Roosevelt
Reservation."
"Regarding the environmental and First Amendment harms, plaintiff has
pointed to numerous harms to the landscape, including "four sets of mountain peaks" that
are "sacred peaks to the Tohono people." Hr'g Tr. at 12:11-12, 15."
"Defendants note,
however, that plans have not yet been finalized for the border wall, and that many-if not
all-of plaintiff's alleged environmental and First Amendment injuries could be mitigated
through consultation with the Nation and accommodations, such as crossing gates to enable
members of the Nation to access the international border. See Enriquez Deel. ~~ 16-1 7,
24-29, 33. Given the possibility of mitigating plaintiff's injuries, I find that plaintiff has
not yet established irreparable harm that is "certain" and "great." Mexichem Specialty
Resins, Inc., 787 F.3d at 555 (internal quotation marks omitted)."
Judge Leon Expects Homeland Security to Consult and Cooperate with Tribe
"The international border is an area of great significance to both the United States
and to the Nation. While I have concluded that a preliminary injunction is unwarranted, I
fully expect the Government in the months ahead to follow through on its guarantees of
consultation and cooperation with the Nation to address the Nation's concerns regarding
border wall construction!"
Fast Tracking and Waiving Laws
Judge Leon also wrote in the decision, "To fast-track border construction, Congress authorized the Secretary to 'waive all
legal requirements ... necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and
roads under this section.'"
Building the border wall would lead to “significant devastation” on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks that are sacred to the O’odham, tribal attorneys said.
“It would fray the ties between O’odham communities and families on opposite sides of the border, interfere significantly with O’odham religious rituals and practices, and destroy plant and animal resources sacred to the O’odham,” the lawyers wrote.
Building the border wall would lead to “significant devastation” on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks that are sacred to the O’odham, tribal attorneys said.
“It would fray the ties between O’odham communities and families on opposite sides of the border, interfere significantly with O’odham religious rituals and practices, and destroy plant and animal resources sacred to the O’odham,” the lawyers wrote.
Already the U.S. government has blown up sacred places, desecrated burial places and violated all federal protection laws that protect the borderlands.
The government is ignoring endangered species, bulldozing trees and cacti, extracting scarce water, destroying nesting places, and destroying the plant life necessary for life to carry on by eliminating the plants that are necessary for bees, birds and other species to distribute pollen and seeds in the fragile Sonoran Desert.
The Tohono O'odham's Nation stated in its lawsuit filed against U.S. Homeland Security officials in June:
"Construction of the border wall and associated infrastructure will require the blasting and grading of mountain peaks that lie in the wall’s path, and the building of miles of access roads and multiple staging yards (complete with concrete batching plants) that will stretch far inland from the border, all of which will be done in trespass and have a permanent, scarring impact on Reservation lands."
The Nation described changes through the years in the tribe's boundary and cited this:
"Today, as Nation Chairman Verlon Jose testified to Congress in 2024: Seventeen O’odham communities with approximately 2,000 members are still located in our historical homelands in Mexico. O’odham on both sides of the border share the same language, culture, religion and history, and we continue to cross the border for sacred pilgrimages and ceremonies at important religious and cultural sites."
"Many O’odham families retain deeply rooted connections to Mexico. They have family there. They bury their dead in ancestral cemeteries there, which they visit regularly so that the dead know they are not forgotten, and because there are religious duties the O’odham must fulfill in the years following the loss of a loved one."
Spy Towers
"In 2012, the Nation approved the lease of ten sites across the Reservation on which CBP has constructed 160-foot tall Integrated Fixed Towers. Each tower is equipped with longrange and wide-angle surveillance cameras, night vision, thermal sensors, and ground sweeping radar, which feed real-time data to Border Patrol agents at Border Patrol’s facilities within the Reservation."
62 miles of primary and secondary border wall; technology, a patrol road, cameras and lighting.
"In the spring of 2026, the Secretary informed the Nation of his plans to construct a border wall and associated infrastructure along the international border within the Nation’s Reservation. Paul Enriquez, the Director of the Infrastructure Program for U.S. Border Patrol’s Program Management Office Directorate, sent the Nation’s Chairman Verlon Jose and Vice Chairwoman Carla Johnson an email in which he stated: I am writing to inform you that CBP will be releasing the contract solicitation for the border wall project located adjacent to the Tohono O’odham Nation (Tucson 5 Wall Project) today, Friday, May 15. The contract solicitation will include the construction of approximately 62 miles of primary and secondary border wall, technology, a patrol road, cameras, and lighting. CBP is targeting a construction contract award in June 2026, followed by design and schedule for construction."
Homeland Security said the proposed border wall project, includes a “new 30-ft primary vertical barrier” and a “secondary vertical barrier within [sixty feet of the international boundary line]. The contractors “shall have full use of the project real estate limits,” but that “[l]ocating and acquiring staging areas on private lands” and “construction access road[s]” will be the “responsibility of the contractor.”
The Tohono O'odham Nation said a border wall will mean the blasting of mountains that are in its way.
Border Wall will Destroy Sacred Peaks, Destory Petroglyphs and Block Running Trails
"The construction of the border wall and associated infrastructure will severely disrupt the Nation’s cross-border community and family ties. It will destroy sacred peaks upon which the O’odham have prayed for generations. It will destroy petroglyphs that constitute 'perpetual prayers.' It will destroy access to specific Saguaro cacti that O’odham communities and their ancestors have used for generations to create the Saguaro wine essential for certain Case 1:26-cv-02127-RJL Document 1 Filed 06/16/26 Page 17 of 20 17 religious ceremonies. And it will block the ancient trails used for the Baboquivari and Salt Runs that are central to O’odham culture."
The tribe said that only Congress can change its border, and the border wall will diminish their land."
Federal Judge's Ruling Excerpt
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