A federal judge on Friday denied the Tohono O’odham Nation’s request for a court-ordered halt to border wall construction along a portion of its reservation in Arizona. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the tribe had not established that the construction would unlawfully alter its reservation boundaries or constitute illegal trespassing.
Leon wrote that the government’s interests in securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and ensuring public safety outweighed any irreparable harms to the tribe at this stage. The judge’s decision means the Trump administration can proceed with plans to build 62 miles of border wall across the reservation.
The Tohono O’odham Nation, which has over 37,000 members, strongly disagreed with the ruling. Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon M. Jose stated that the decision did not adequately address the inevitable impacts on the Nation’s land and the permanent destruction of sacred sites. The tribe indicated it would consider all available options.
Attorneys for the tribe argued that the planned border wall would cause significant devastation, including the destruction of sacred mountain peaks. They also contended that the wall would disrupt familial ties between O’odham communities on both sides of the border, interfere with religious practices, and destroy sacred plant and animal resources. The reservation in the Sonoran Desert borders Mexico for 62 miles.
In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt established a 60-foot strip of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border known as the “Roosevelt Reservation.” This buffer zone was created a decade before the reservation’s official establishment. The tribe’s legal team argued that it is unrealistic to confine border wall construction to such a narrow corridor.
During a hearing on July 22, Leon expressed skepticism about the tribe's request for a preliminary injunction, describing it as an “extraordinary” request and noting the novelty of the legal issues involved.