A federal judge for the District Court of the District of Columbia sided with the Trump administration by shutting down a request from a Native American tribal nation to block the southern border wall from spanning across their territory.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush, refused to grant a preliminary injunction requested by the Tohono O’odham Nation that would have blocked the Trump administration’s move to build a physical border wall along the nation’s 62-mile border shared with Mexico.
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“Plaintiff seeks a preliminary injunction to stop construction on grounds that the border wall will change the Reservation boundaries and will result in trespasses over the Reservation,” Leon wrote in his opinion, referring to the Native American tribe as “plaintiff.” “Because plaintiff is unlikely to succeed on the merits of these claims, and because the remaining preliminary injunction factors favor the Government, I will DENY plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.”
Leon wrote in the opinion that he believes “the Government’s interests in securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, and ensuring public safety outweigh any surviving irreparable harms,” related to the border wall potentially trespassing on the reservation lands.
The Tohono O’odham Nation reservation sits on an over 4,400 square mile area bordering Mexico in the state of Arizona. The tribe’s chairman, Verlon M. Jose, and vice chairwoman, Carla L. Johnson, released a statement slamming the Friday opinion, saying they are “considering all possible options for moving forward.”
“The preservation of our history is critical to protecting our future for generations to come,” Jose and Johnson said in the joint statement. “We know that a border wall will destroy our sacred sites, damage our environment, and further separate the O’odham.”
“We will continue to push for common sense border solutions that provide security without destroying our heritage and natural environment — just like we have always done,” the Tohono O’odham Nation chair and vice chair said.
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Leon pointed to the so-called “Roosevelt Reservation,” which is a 60-foot buffer zone at the international border created in 1907, in his reasoning.
About 700 miles of President Donald Trump’s border wall have been constructed so far, according to a recent Time magazine report. The U.S. southern border with Mexico is about 1,954 miles long.
