Senator Gallego Statement on Disgraceful DHS Deployment on Tohono O’odham Land

Gallego says the entire ‘consultation’ process has been a sham ARIZONA – Today, U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) released the following statement after the Trump Administration deployed Department of Homeland Security agents and border wall contractors onto Tohono O’odham Nation land without the Nation’s consent. “I warned DHS Secretary Mullin in March – DHS must respect tribal sovereignty and meaningfully consult with tribes before building any border infrastructure on their land. “Instead, the entire ‘consultation’ process has been a sham. DHS told the Tohono O’odham Nation that the agency would build a wall on their land whether they liked it or not. “Now, rather than try to engage in good faith and defuse the situation, Trump has needlessly escalated by sending dozens of armed agents on the Nation’s land without so much as a heads up or warning. “As I’ve said before, we can have both border security and tribal sovereignty. This is not that.“ In March, Senator Gallego pressed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin about DHS’s failures to consult tribal nations before building border security infrastructure on their land. During his nomination hearing, Mullin agreed to cooperate with tribes.