The Tohono O'odham Nation welcomed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from left, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Tahsuda, far left, to its homelands along the United States border with Mexico on March 17, 2018. Photo: U.S. Department of the Interior

National | Politics

Tohono O'odham Nation reaffirms opposition to wall along border

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

The Tohono O’odham Nation remains strongly opposed to a wall along the United States border with Mexico even as the Trump administration continues to push for one.

Tribal leaders welcomed Secretary Ryan Zinke of the Department of the Interior to their homelands on Saturday and explained why the wall will be a waste of taxpayer funds. Money should instead be directed to law enforcement and public safety, Chairman Edward D. Manuel said in a follow-up letter first reported by The Hill.

"The O'odham and our ancestors have lived in this area since time immemorial," Manuel wrote in the letter, a copy of which was posted by Laiken Jordahl of the Center for Biological Diversity. "No one is more familiar with the lands along this stretch of border than the Tohono O'odham."

Zinke and John Tahsuda, the highest-ranking official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, visited a border crossing on the reservation in southern Arizona as part of their trip. Afterward, the Secretary, in a diplomatically-worded post on Twitter, said the Trump administration and the tribe have a "shared interest" in keeping America secure.

But in remarks to reporters, he was more blunt. "Clearly, we are going to build a wall," he said as he was flanked by border agents, Arizona Public Media reported.

Tohono Oodham Nation on YouTube: "There's No O'odham Word for Wall"

The controversial project is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, though exact figures are still unknown. President Donald Trump, who failed to consult tribes before issuing an executive order about the wall, has insisted that Mexico will somehow pay for it.

"If we don’t have a wall system, we’re not going to have a country," Trump wrote on March 13. He also said the U.S. Congress "must fund" the effort.

According to Zinke, the wall will pass through all public lands managed by the federal government, The Arizona Republic reported. Whether that means Indian Country too is an open question.

"Our Native Americans have a strong opposition to fence. I’m going to talk to them about that, and then go back to Washington, D.C., and talk to the president,” Zinke said in what was his first trip as Secretary to the border, The Tucson Weekly reported.

The Tohono O'odham Nation runs 75 miles along the border and some walls and structures are already in place there. The tribe has long called for greater security to address drug smuggling, human trafficking and other problems.

Other tribes with homelands in Arizona, California and Texas would be affected by a border wall too. Shortly after Trump took office last year, the National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution that "opposes the construction of a physical wall on the southern border of the United States on tribal lands without the consent of affected tribes."

Read More on the Story:
Tribe clashes with Zinke on need for Mexican border wall (The Hill March 19, 2018)
Secretary Zinke on Arizona Border: 'We Are Going to Build a Wall' (Arizona Public Media March 19, 2018)
Interior Department Boss Visits Border Wall (The Tucson Weekly March 18, 2018)
Zinke makes first trip to border (KOVA March 18, 2018)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says border wall will cross all public lands (The Arizona Republic March 17, 2018)