The Tohono O'odham nation is a federally-recognized indigenous tribe that resides in southern central Arizona and parts of Northern Mexico. It is the second largest land-based Native American tribe in the US. Their reservation spans 62 miles of the US-Mexico border; 34,000 of its members live in the US and 2,000 reside in Mexico.

President Trump signed Executive Order 13767 on January 25, 2017, to fund a physical wall on the US-Mexico border. The wall will run across Native American lands, permanently dividing a tribal nation that did not ask for a border. Over 20 tribal resolutions opposing a wall have been signed by the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council. 

The Gadsden Purchase of 1853 forced a border (an agreement by the US and Mexico) onto the Tohono O’odham land, splitting the nation in half, without the tribal nation’s consent.  

The wall would:

• Divide ancestral lands and tribal communities
• Prevent tribal members from completing ceremonial and religious events and accessing family burial grounds
• Thwart wildlife from migrating in order to survive and procreate
• Endanger species such as jaguars and wildlife sacred to the tribe
• Destroy saguaro cactus and other desert plants of cultural significance
• Further militarize border lands belonging to the Tohono O’odham people  

The Tohono O’odham nation has cooperated for decades with the border security measures implemented by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In collaboration with the DHS, the Tohono O’odham nation has complied and supported:

• Staffing of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Shadow Wolves unit, a Native American law enforcement unit responsible to track drug smugglers and unlawful entry into the US
• The construction of vehicle barriers in 2007-2008
• A 1964 ICE office onsite
• 2 US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Law Enforcement Centers
• Border Patrol highway checkpoints
• Fixing of highway roads and infrastructure used by Border Patrol agents
• Hosting continuous town hall meetings with CBP
• Utilizing CBP’s surveillance technology in the border regions

The support of the Tohono O’odham nation has resulted in an 84% decline of apprehensions and unlawful border crossings in the tribal nation’s lands.

Please help us tell them to respect a land that isn’t ours, to respect a tribal nation’s right to sovereignty and self-determination!

Enough is enough!  Please help us raise awareness and join forces with the Tohono O'odham community to stop the wall from physically dividing and destroying a nation that has been here for centuries.

SAVE THE CULTURE,  SAVE THE COMMUNITY, SAVE THE FAMILIES! 

Sign the petition now to tell President Trump, US  Representative Greg Stanton of the 9th District of AZ, and US Senators Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema that the wall is not a solution!

To stay updated with current events and more information follow us on Twitter: @Fatima_MSW521 @thejuanarroyo @sabsMSW @LesleyMSW2020