WASHINGTON – In a pivotal decision on Friday, a federal judge upheld the Trump administration’s plans to proceed with the construction of a 62-mile segment of the international border wall, a section that runs along a Native American reservation, despite the tribe’s objections.
Judge Richard Leon of Washington, D.C., turned down the Tohono O’odham Nation’s plea to halt the construction on their 2.8-million-acre reservation, stating that the tribe could not demonstrate that the proposed wall would alter the boundaries of their land without congressional approval.
Furthermore, Leon dismissed the tribe’s argument that the wall’s construction would unlawfully encroach upon their reservation.
“Overall, the government’s priorities—border security, immigration law enforcement, and public safety—carry more weight than any potential irreparable harm at this point,” wrote Leon in his rationale.
At the time of the ruling, representatives of the tribe had not responded to requests for their reaction to this judicial outcome.
The O’odham reservation in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona abuts 62 miles of the Mexico border. The tribe has over 37,000 members, including thousands who live in Mexico.
Building the border wall would led to “significant devastation” on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks that are sacred to the O’odham, tribe attorneys said.
“It would fray the ties between O’odham communities and families on opposite sides of the border, interfere significantly with O’odham religious rituals and practices, and destroy plant and animal resources sacred to the O’odham,” the lawyers wrote.
In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt issued a proclamation reserving a 60-foot strip of public land along the U.S.-Mexico border for a buffer zone called the “Roosevelt Reservation,” which was formed a decade before the reservation’s establishment.
Tribe attorneys say it is “fanciful at best” to suggest that border wall construction can be confined to a 60-foot-wide corridor.
During a July 22 hearing, Leon appeared to be skeptical that U.S. laws tip in favor of the tribe’s bid for a preliminary injunction, calling it an “extraordinary” request. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said he couldn’t find a previous court ruling under comparable circumstances.
“This is a novel case with novel issues,” the judge said.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.