- United States
- Calif.
- Letter
Congress must put an immediate stop to what is happening at Organ Pipe National Monument and on Tohono O'odham Nation land. CBP deployed armed, masked agents to escort border wall contractors onto sovereign tribal land in direct defiance of the Nation's trespassing order. Contractors bulldozed Las Playas Intaglio, a geoglyph over 1,000 years old, destroying nearly a third of it. This is not border security. This is the federal government bulldozing a national monument and overriding the sovereignty of a nation that has cooperated with CBP for decades.
The Tohono O'odham Nation issued no-trespassing notices. Tribal police tried to enforce them. CBP set up vehicle blockades to stop that enforcement. Congress needs to call for hearings, launch a formal investigation, and get on the ground with the Nation now. Meet with tribal leadership, publicly oppose this destruction, and use your platform to force accountability. Organ Pipe National Monument and the Tohono O'odham Nation deserve protection. Congress must do better.