Federal contractors are pushing forward with border wall construction across 600 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, even as Indigenous leaders raise concerns about impacts to cultural sites along the 1,954-mile boundary. The Trump administration has devoted over $46 billion to the effort, with walls planned or under construction covering at least 1,400 miles as part of what officials say is necessary to prevent illegal entry of people and drugs.
Indigenous leaders say contractors are blasting and bulldozing Kuuchamaa Mountain, which straddles the United States and Mexico, to make way for new sections of wall. Norma Meza Calles, a Kumeyaay Nation tribal leader, said in Tecate, Mexico, that in the Kumeyaay creation story a shaman transformed into the mountain. The Kumeyaay Nation consists of more than a dozen tribes in California and Mexico's Baja California.
Federal Waivers and Construction Pace
Barrier construction has ramped up along the border even as illegal crossings have plummeted to historic lows. Much of the work began this year after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security waived cultural and environmental laws. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has awarded contracts or begun construction on over 600 miles of new border wall with companion surveillance technology, and a double wall is planned or under construction along another 370 miles.
The Trump administration says the barriers are necessary to keep people and drugs from entering the U.S. illegally and wants walls to cover at least 1,400 miles of the border. Trump's "big, beautiful bill" devoted over $46 billion to the effort. CBP said 535 miles of remote, rugged border terrain will solely rely on detection technology.
Site Disruptions and Tribal Response
In Arizona, DHS contractors last month carved through a massive 1,000-year-old fish-shaped geoglyph called "Las Playas Intaglio." The rare drawing, etched into the desert floor much like Peru's Nazca Lines, was created on a lava field in what is now the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The Tohono O'odham Nation said it had pointed out the site on its ancestral land for contractors to avoid.
Tohono O'odham Chairman Verlon Jose said in an April 30 statement that the loss was devastating and entirely avoidable. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that a contractor "inadvertently disturbed" the site west of Ajo, Arizona, on April 23, but it vowed to protect the remaining portion. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott is talking to tribal leaders to determine next steps.
Members of the Inter-Tribal Association of Arizona, which represents 21 tribes, traveled to Washington last month to lobby against a 20-foot secondary wall being built along that section of the border, as well as a primary 30-foot bollard wall planned on Tohono O'odham tribal lands. They met with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a Cherokee Nation member, who listened but made clear his intent is to build more border walls as fast as possible, the Tohono O'odham Nation said in a statement.
Legal Protections and Federal Response
Desecrating a sacred Native American site on U.S. federal or tribal land is a felony, punishable by imprisonment and fines. In 1992, the National Park Service listed Kuuchamaa Mountain, also called Tecate Peak, in the National Register of Historic Places, giving it limited protection. It noted that "discarding or disturbing the mountain's natural state would be sacrilegious."
In California, explosions on Kuuchamaa send rocks hurtling down its Mexico side. Emily Burgueno, a California member of the Kumeyaay Nation, said that "body" and "land" are the same word in the Kumeyaay language. She also said no one ever consented or supported the use of dynamite on the mountain. Some tribal leaders met with DHS officials to urge them to protect Kuuchamaa and are looking into legal action.
In Sunland Park, on New Mexico's border with Mexico, crews this year set off blasts on Mount Cristo Rey, a pilgrimage site topped with a limestone crucifix. CBP is seeking to seize a strip of the mountain owned by the Roman Catholic Church for wall construction. The Diocese of Las Cruces asked a judge this month to deny the land transfer as an affront to religious liberties and the "faithful who seek to commune with God on Mount Cristo Rey."
Environmental and Wildlife Considerations
In Arizona, where the Patagonia Mountains descend to the border, heavy machinery crawls along freshly graded roads to extend a double wall that could block a wildlife corridor for endangered ocelots and jaguars. Jaguars have long coexisted with the Tohono O'odham, who consider the species "spiritual guardians," Austin Nunez, a tribal leader, said in a 2025 lawsuit that unsuccessfully challenged the DHS waivers.
In western Texas, the federal government in February notified ranchers on the Rio Grande east of Big Bend National Park of its interest in their land that contains canyonland pictographs and petroglyphs, said Raymond Skiles, a retired Big Bend National Park ranger. After community backlash, CBP's online planning map showed the 30-foot-wall plans were scrapped for surveillance technology, patrols and some vehicle barriers. A segment in the national park and neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park would rely on technology alone.
CBP said it recognizes the importance of natural and cultural resources and is working to minimize the construction's impact, including leaving drainage gates open in wildlife corridors for animal passage. The agency also said illegal border crossings have littered, polluted and trampled sensitive habitat.
Why This Matters:
The federal government's $46 billion investment in border security infrastructure reflects a commitment to national sovereignty and border enforcement at a time when illegal crossings have reached historic lows. The tension between security objectives and cultural preservation raises questions about the balance between federal authority and existing legal protections for sacred sites. While CBP has adapted plans in some areas in response to community concerns, shifting to technology-based solutions, the pace of construction under DHS legal waivers demonstrates the administration's prioritization of border control over competing interests. The outcome of pending legal challenges and ongoing tribal consultations will determine whether existing federal protections for Indigenous sites can effectively constrain executive branch discretion in matters of national security. The administrative response to these concerns will test whether market-based solutions and alternative technologies can achieve security goals while respecting property rights and established legal frameworks.