A federal judge has refused to block the Trump administration from building 62 miles of international border wall along a portion of the Tohono O’odham Nation's reservation without the tribe's consent. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., denied the tribe's request for a court-ordered halt to the construction.
Leon ruled that the tribe had not established that a border wall would alter its reservation boundaries without congressional authority. He also rejected the tribe's assertion that the planned border wall would illegally trespass on its reservation. "And in any event, I find that the Government’s interests in securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and ensuring public safety outweigh any surviving irreparable harms at this juncture," Leon wrote in his decision.
The O’odham reservation, located in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, borders 62 miles of the Mexico border. The tribe has more than 37,000 members, with thousands residing in Mexico.
Attorneys for the tribe argued that building the border wall would cause "significant devastation" on the reservation, including the destruction of sacred mountain peaks. They also stated that the wall would disrupt ties between O’odham communities and families on both sides of the border, interfere with religious rituals and practices, and destroy sacred plant and animal resources.
In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt established the "Roosevelt Reservation," a 60-foot strip of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border intended as a buffer zone, predating the reservation's official establishment by a decade. Tribe attorneys contend that it is unlikely construction could be confined to this narrow corridor.
During a July 22 hearing, Judge Leon expressed skepticism regarding the tribe's request for a preliminary injunction, deeming it an "extraordinary" request. Leon, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, noted the novelty of the case, stating, "This is a novel case with novel issues."