Tohono O'odham Nation leaders are calling the “controlled blasting” that Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is conducting along the border adjacent to tribal land a violation. This follows reports that contractors hired by Customs and Border Patrol were blasting away at sections of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The bombing area, while not a part of the Tohono O'odham Nation’s lands, is a site that has been identified as “a burial ground for Apache warriors.” This is all being done in order to build a 30-foot, 63-mile-long wall to separate the boundary between Arizona and Mexico. Tohono O’odham Nation officials says they have not been consulted in any way on this change in tactics by the Trump administration.

The effects on the environment and to the land in general are being “monitored,” according to Customs and Border Protection. But this means little considering that the Trump administration has used waiver rights, allowing DHS to quickly move ahead with zero need to follow any regulations or rules put in place by our government.