Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) are condemning the recent deployment of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents to build the border wall on Tohono O'odham territory, allegedly without the Nation's proper consent.
The Context
On Tuesday, the Tohono O'odham Nation revealed that approximately 20 armed and masked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents escorted DHS contractors to begin construction of the border wall.
Additionally, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officers and a CBP BORTAC SWAT team were present.
The Tohono O'odham Nation argued against the wall, saying it would harm the environment and profane sacred grounds, yet the federal government is proceeding anyway, allegedly without cooperating with the Nation.
What Gallego and Grijalva are Saying
"I warned DHS Secretary Mullin in March – DHS must respect tribal sovereignty and meaningfully consult with tribes before building any border infrastructure on their land," said Sen. Gallego in a statement, adding, "Instead, the entire 'consultation' process has been a sham. DHS told the Tohono O'odham Nation that the agency would build a wall on their land whether they liked it or not."
He emphasized that "rather than try to engage in good faith and defuse the situation, Trump has needlessly escalated by sending dozens of armed agents on the Nation's land without so much as a heads up or warning."
"As I've said before, we can have both border security and tribal sovereignty. This is not that," Sen. Gallego concluded.
Similarly, Rep. Grijalva said, "There is no justification for armed federal agents and contractors entering Tribal lands in the early hours of the morning and proceeding with construction activity without the consent of the Tohono O'odham Nation."
" The federal government cannot claim to respect Tribal sovereignty while simultaneously sending armed personnel onto a sovereign Tribal Nation's lands and blocking Tribal police from enforcing Tribal law," Rep. Grijalva continued. "The United States must honor its obligations to Tribal Nations and respect the sovereignty, laws, sacred places, and ancestral lands of the O’odham people. We have already seen the irreversible damage caused when this Administration rushes forward with border construction. These actions come less than 24 hours after the Chairman and I visited this sacred site. I stand with Chairman Jose and the Tohono O’odham Nation in demanding that this activity stop immediately."
