On Sunday, border wall construction loomed for the Tohono O’odham Nation. In a statement days prior, tribal leaders said they were informed that contractors would begin uprooting sacred saguaros on the Nation as early as the following day — Monday, Oct. 12 — to make way for the fence.
Oct. 12 was Indigenous People’s Day.
The day came and went, and that night, the tribe made an announcement: The contractors had been a no-show. Meanwhile, tribal members and visitors gathered along the border the same day to celebrate the holiday.
“We hope that the companies who signed on to commit this atrocity against our land and people take this opportunity to reconsider their involvement,” Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose said in a statement.
It’s not clear why the border wall contractors never showed up on Monday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not answer AZPM’s question on the matter, nor did it answer an accompanying question about when the saguaro relocation would begin.
Instead, the agency sent an Aug. 25 statement from CBP commissioner Rodney Scott, who said contractors were “moving forward” with the 62-mile border wall project, known as Tucson 5.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are securing the border and giving our agents the tools and support they need to protect the American people,” Scott said.
But for decades, the Tohono O’odham Nation has collaborated with federal officials to implement border security technology, Jose pointed out during a town hall in Ajo this summer.
“The system we have in place is a robust, dynamic, effective use of … layers of technology, vehicle barriers, and personnel,” he said.
A wall, the Nation has long argued, does not work.
“It's too vulnerable to subvert or sabotage. Smugglers and others can just climb over, dig under, or cut through the wall,” said Vice Chairwoman Carla Johnson during the Ajo town hall.
“And I do like the example that Chairman gives where there's a lot of buzz about the screwworm,” she added, referring to the parasitic fly that suspended Mexican cattle imports for more than a year.
“I know (the screwworm) doesn't see a wall,” she continued with a chuckle.
Hours after the Aug. 24 town hall, masked and armed federal agents entered the Nation with contractors to begin preparations for border wall construction, despite a “no trespassing” ordinance implemented by the tribe.
‘Sacramental bread and wine’##
The tribe is currently suing the federal government over its plans to build a 62-mile border wall on tribal land. On Oct. 5, Tohono O’odham leadership asked a federal judge for an emergency injunction — a type of court order that would demand a stop to border wall construction and related activity.
“The emergency is stark,” lawyers for the tribe noted in the Oct. 5 emergency motion.
The motion noted that in their preparations for border wall construction, contractors plan to begin uprooting and relocating saguaro cacti, which are deeply sacred to the tribe. The court filing described the saguaro as “among the most sacred plants in O’odham religious tradition,” noting that its fruits are “as essential to O’odham spirituality as sacramental bread and wine are… in Christian traditions.”
“The ha:ṣañ are our family, as much a part of us as any blood relative,” Jose said of the saguaros. “To destroy them by the thousands carves a wound in our hearts that will not heal."
According to court documents, the Department of Homeland Security has until Oct. 15 to respond to the Nation’s motion.
