NO BORDER WALL: Tohono O'odham Closes Nation to Non-Members

"No Trespassing" warning posted today on Tohono O'odham Nation border. Courtesy photo for Censored News.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 8, 2026

SELLS, Arizona -- The Tohono O'odham Nation closed its borders to border wall construction crews today, stating if they attempt to enter, they will be escorted off tribal lands by tribal police. Further, the Nation told O'odham to report suspicious activity to tribal police.

"Please be aware that 'no trespassing' signs have been posted in several locations on the Nation. Tohono O’odham law enforcement is on alert to turn back trespassers.
All O’odham are free to travel as usual."

"The restrictions are only for non-tribal members who are attempting to destroy our land and separate our people with the construction of the wall," the Nation said.

Federal Contractors Begin Border Construction in Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park in Texas: Border Wall Claws of Death, August 8, 2026

Border Wall Claws of Death
Laiken Jordahl said today, "More destruction today in Big Bend. Bulldozers and excavators are being trucked into the wildest corner of Texas, preparing to inflict an irreversible scar on the national park. This absurd project is despised by everyone in West Texas. When will Texas leadership step in?"

Big Bend Destruction by Border Wall Contractors. Screenshot by Censored New

New Mexico threatens to revoke licenses of contractors drilling water wells in drought-stricken New Mexico. The Tohono O'odham Nation has filed for an injunction to halt the Trump administration from seizing its tribal land for the border wall in Arizona, pointing out that only Congress can diminish its land. Border Wall construction will destroy O'odham burial places and sacred sites. Today, contractors are destroying the fragile tree life at Big Bend in Texas. Today is Day 10 of a tree sitter and supporters halting border wall contractors in Lochiel, Arizona, east of Nogales. -- Censored News

Federal Contractors Begin Border Construction in Big Bend National Park

“This is the most heinous attack on an American national park in generations,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.

By Center for Biological Diversity, Censored News, August 7, 2026

TERLINGUA, Texas— Bulldozers broke ground today on border barrier and road construction in Big Bend National Park amid widespread bipartisan opposition. Videos shared with the Center for Biological Diversity show contractors plowing through native vegetation along the Rio Grande’s riparian corridor, with the iconic Santa Elena Canyon visible in the background.

“This is the most heinous attack on an American national park in generations,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Tohono O'odham Nation Presents Case Against Border Wall

Tohono O'odham Nation Presents Case Against Border Wall

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 3, 2026

SELLS, Arizona -- The Tohono O'odham Nation said attorneys argued a strong case in opposition to the construction of a border wall on O'odham land, pointing out that only Congress can deplete its land. The Nation's attorneys in Washington are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the border wall construction by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Only Congress has the authority to diminish the reservation, not DHS," the Tohono O'odham Nation said in a statement on Monday. "Even the law that authorized construction did not include any explicit approval from Congress to take the Nation's land."

'Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands' Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, Co-authors Book on Surveillance

Photo credit: Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Tohono O’odham Je’ved by Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik,

Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands

Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, is co-author of a new book revealing border surveillance

By Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik

The broad slope and rounded crest of O’ks Tak’am Do’ak outline the profile of a woman sitting and facing the west. Her name is O’ks Ta’kam. She is part the O’odham origin story, passed down through oral history. She sits there vigilant, a warrior protecting, and will warn the people when a catastrophic event will occur. When this event comes, she will stand and gather the smallest creatures in her skirt to protect them.

The mountain forms part of the Tak’Va’Vak range which cuts through Tohono O’odham land, joining peaks like Han’a-mek and Ma’mke-mad. These mountains are known as a place to gather sweet fruits from the chu-chues (organ pipe cactus). They are home to caves, springs, and seasonal water holes. Each year ceremonies and hunts take place all across the Tak’Va’Vak, and trails lead through the mountain passes, connecting the springs at A’al Va’pai (Quitobaqito) to O’odham villages in Sonora, and leading all the way to the salty Ge-Ka-ch’k (Sea of Cortez). The mountains hold deer, mountain rams, javalina. They hold burial places. Medicines grow there. In the evening they are especially beautiful, bathed in crimson.

Continue reading https://urbannext.net/significant-impact-contesting-surveillance/

'Significant Impact' is now being released.

Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham
I think that land has always been defined by Europeans as property so they have a different perspective on land, and from that perspective it’s very difficult to understand. And I’m saying that just from seeing the Border Patrol and how they react when we talk about our land and how we’re connected to it. It just seems to not make a difference to them that it’s of great concern to us. It’s very difficult for them to understand and therefore they just continue to disrespect all the things we’ve been telling them not to disturb, like our caves on the mountain. They removed pottery that has human remains or ceremony items, they removed them from the mountains. And it’s very disturbing to us, people who have continued to follow our way of life and live our ceremony life. It affects us, but it also affects people who don’t follow that tradition.

Essay excerpted from

This essay is excerpted from Significant Impact: Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Tohono O’odham Je’ved by Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik,

urbanNext (August 2, 2026) Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands. Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/significant-impact-contesting-surveillance/.

Ophelia Rivas website is https://www.oodhamrights.org/

Copyright By Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik