Trump administration starts building border wall project in Arizona over tribe's objections
The Trump administration has commenced construction of a border wall segment in Arizona on land belonging to the Tohono O'odham Nation. The tribe is opposing the project, citing the desecration of sacred sites and unauthorized trespassing, despite a federal court ruling allowing the work to proceed.
Why it matters
The conflict underscores the ongoing tension between federal infrastructure projects, indigenous land rights, and national security policies in the United States.
The Trump administration has begun work on a project to build a stretch of border wall in southern Arizona along part of a Native American tribe's reservation, pushing ahead with one of its signature projects despite protests from the tribe.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the area is a dangerous smuggling route and that building the wall will close a longstanding security gap. But members of the Tohono O'odham Nation, whose membership spans both sides of the U.S,-Mexico border, have accused the administration of trespassing and say the construction will damage land sacred to the tribe.
The wall segment is part of a $46 billion dollar effort by the Trump administration to fill the border with 30-foot (9-metre) steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and technology designed to stop undocumented immigration and smuggling.
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