US Government is Preventing Tohono O'odham Nation Police From Entering Their Sovereign Land

 

Photo courtesy Tohono O'odham Nation. US Border Patrol preventing tribal police from entering the Tohono O'odham Nation's sovereign land as border wall drillers began drilling.

US Government is Preventing Tohono O'odham Nation Police From Entering Their Sovereign Land

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 2, 2026

SELLS, Tohono O'odham Nation -- The U.S. Border Patrol is preventing Tohono O'odham Nation's tribal police from entering their own land to issue citations to border wall construction crews.

The crews are violating the 'No Trespass' order to build the border wall. Drilling is underway,

The media is incorrectly reporting that a federal judge ruled that the border wall is being built on federal land. Federal Judge Richard Leon actually said that this is "likely" federal land.

The US government claims it is part of the 'Roosevelt Reservation,' a 60-foot-wide stretch along the border created by presidential proclamation in 1907.

This matter remains before the federal court.

The Tohono O'odham Nation said it has been O'odham land since time immemorial and is now officially the Tohono O'odham Nation's land.

In the news

Tohono O'odham Nation Asks Appeals Court to Expedite Tribe's Appeal

Tucson Sentinel reports that the Tohono O'odham Nation has asked a federal appeals court to expedite the tribe's appeal to block the border wall from being built.
"The Tohono O'odham Nation asked to fast-track their appeal in federal court last Thursday, part of a lawsuit seeking to block the federal government from building a 62-mile long border wall along their stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border."n their land." https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/090126_border_wall_appeal/oodham-push-expedited-appeal-while-challenging-border-wall-project-s-az-reservation/

Previously at Censored News

Armed and Masked US Border Patrol Threaten Land Defenders at Tree Sit in Lochiel, Arizona https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08/masked-and-armed-us-border-patrol.html

Tohono O'odham Nation: US Government Violating Tribal Sovereignty to Build Border Wall https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08/tohono-oodham-nation-us-government-is.html

About the author

Brenda Norrell has been a journalist in Indian country for 44 years. She began as a reporter for Navajo Times, during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a correspondent for Lakota Times, Associated Press, and USA Today, She began Censored News after being censored and fired as a longtime staff reporter at Indian Country Today. She has a masters degree in international health.

Censored News 2026