Tohono O’odham Nation Denounces Incursion Into Its Territory During Border Wall Construction
The traditional government of the Tohono O’odham Nation denounced that around twenty armed immigration officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) escorted a crew of workers from a contractor company that began, during the early morning hours of August 25, construction work on the border wall in the Indigenous reservation that shares 100 kilometers of international border between Sonora and Arizona.
In a statement signed by Chairman Verlon M. Jose and Vice Chairwoman Carla L. Johnson, they detailed that the incursion, which they described as illegal, occurred at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday at three different points within their territory.
“The contractors, who are illegally in the Nation, were accompanied by agents while they worked at three separate locations near the border with drilling trucks to conduct soil samples and other activities,” denounced the traditional authority of the Mexican-American Indigenous people.
Tohono O’odham Denounces Incursion Into Its Territory
The Tohono O’odham warned that a group of members of their Nation will remain vigilant to prevent an escalation of border wall construction work and that they are prioritizing the personal safety of their people and the territory they have inhabited ancestrally, even centuries before the border between Mexico and the United States existed.
The traditional authority stated that the incursion of contractors with machinery into their territory represents a direct violation of the Tohono O’odham Code.
“Officers from the Tohono O’odham Police Department (TOPD) were at the scene and have been monitoring the situation,” the public statement said.
Surveillance With Cameras and Sensors Deployed
In addition, federal authorities are using a technology balloon equipped with cameras and sensors for surveillance monitoring in the Indigenous reservation.
The DHS, the agency responsible for border security and surveillance, also deployed agents to the area, while the presence related to the work being carried out in the territory of the Tohono O’odham Nation continues.
Border Wall Construction Continues in Reservations and Sacred Sites
Meanwhile, work to build the wall across natural reservations and sacred sites belonging to the Tohono O’odham continues, alongside a lawsuit filed before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, brought by the binational Indigenous Nation.
The traditional authority of the Nation has stated that the work and the presence of contractors and agents in their territory constitute an incursion that they consider illegal. As a result, a group of community members will remain vigilant in case of a possible escalation of the construction work.
In this way, the Tohono O’odham, which shares 100 kilometers of international border between Sonora and Arizona, continues monitoring its territory while construction of the border wall proceeds and its authorities monitor the situation.
Source: excelsior
