Thread: Tohono O’odham: Border wall between US, Mexico won’t be built on our Arizona land

Tohono O’odham: Border wall between US, Mexico won’t be built on our Arizona land

BY KTAR.COM | November 14, 2016 @ 4:11 pm



Workers continue work raising a taller fence in the Mexico-US border area separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016.

Last September, the U.S. Border Patrol began erecting an 18-foot-tall steel fence in this area considered very symbolic to immigration activists and also the site where, for the past 17 years, a binational Mass celebrating Mexico's Day of the Dead is held to honor the migrants who have died trying to get to the United States. (AP Photo/Christian Torres)


PHOENIX — The Tohono O’odham Nation will reportedly not allow a border wall between the United State and Mexico to be built on its lands in southern Arizona.

Tribal Vice Chairman Verlon Jose told KJZZ that their ancestral lands — the tribe’s reservation is split between the U.S. and Mexico and includes about 75 miles of international border — are more important to the community than politics.

“Over my dead body will a wall be built,” Jose said, describing some community members’ sentiments.

“I don’t wish to die but I do wish to work together with people so we can truly protect the homeland of this place they call the United States of America. Not only for our people but for the American people.”

One of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign foundations was his promise to build a wall along the country’s southern border and have Mexico foot the bill.

Mexican officials have repeatedly said that would not happen.

Jose told KJZZ that he would invite Trump to the reservation so he could see for himself why a physical wall would not work on Tohono O’odham land and would be a bad idea for the country as a whole.

In a poll conducted last month, 47 percent of Arizonans said they see the border wall as a waste of money, while 34 percent believe it would be an effective barrier.

The Tohono O’odham reservation begins west of Lukeville and ends east of Sasabe. It is southwest of Tucson.

http://ktar.com/story/1358622/report...-arizona-land/

Guess they will have to build it on the perimeter of the reservation. Problem solved.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Guess they will have to build it on the perimeter of the reservation. Problem solved.

Their land is on both sides of the border, since before there was a United States.

(From the article.)
the tribe’s reservation is split between the U.S. and Mexico and includes about 75 miles of international border...

You would build the wall on the US side of the reservation. The reservation would be outside the wall. I think that's what newmexican is proposing and that works for me. The illegal aliens would come in on reservation land, be stopped on the reservation by the wall, and then the reservation police can figure out what to do with them.

Tohono O'odham Nation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tohono O'odham Nation
Reservation
Flag Seal
Anthem: none
Established	1874 (executive order)
Main expansions	1882–1916
First constitution	1937
tripartite system	1986
Capital	Sells, Arizona
Subdivisions	11 districts
Government
• Body	Tohono O'odham Legislative Council
• Chairman	Edward D. Manuel
• Vice-Chairman	Verlon M. Jose
Area
• Total	11,300 km2 (4,400 sq mi)
Population Enrolled tribal members
• Total	28,000
Time zone	MST/MDT
Website	www.tonation-nsn.gov

Tohono O'odham Nation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Tohono O'odham Nation^[1] is the collective government body of the Tohono O'odham tribe in the United States.^[1] The Tohono O’odham Nation governs four separate pieces of land for a combined area of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km²), making it the second largest Native American land holding in the United States. These lands are located within the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona and are directly exposed to the Mexico–United States border for 74 miles (119 km) along its southern border. The Nation is organized into 12 local districts and employs a tripartite system of government. Sells, Arizona, is the Nation's largest community and functions as its capital. The Nation has approximately 28,000 enrolled members, the majority of whom live off the reservations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohono_O%27odham_Nation

State OKs full-scale gaming at Tohono O'odham's Glendale casino

• By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services
• Updated 1 hr ago (0)

• David Kadlubowski / The Arizona Republic 2015

The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino near Glendale opened in 2014 with limited gaming.

PHOENIX — State officials agreed today to allow full-scale gaming at the Tohono O'odham casino in Glendale in exchange for a promise the tribe won't seek additional sites in the Phoenix area.

The deal officially is between the state and all of the tribes. It offers the other tribes some additional gaming opportunities — more poker tables and keno games — if they, too, will limit gaming to existing reservations.

Kirk Adams, the governor's chief of staff, said this deal to "modernize'' the gaming compacts first authorized by voters in 2002 has been in the works for some time.


But it comes just days before U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell is to hear arguments in the latest dispute between the state and the Tohono O'odham over whether the tribe has the legal right to operate a full-scale casino at the Glendale site. If the judge sides with the tribe, the state gets nothing in return.

The tribe has won a string of victories in previous legal fights with the state over the casino. But gubernatorial legal counsel Michael Liburdi he was "very confident'' the state would win the current lawsuit.

Still, he said, it makes sense to settle.

"As the governor has said, he's interested in doing the business of the state with as little legal activity as possible,'' Liburdi explained.

"The way we view this is the Tohono O'odham Nation gets what they want: the casino in Glendale,'' he continued. "Allow them to have what they want and let's move forward with a new compact where all sides in the state could benefit and the state of Arizona could benefit.''

That benefit is financial.

"It's about keeping Arizona money in Arizona," said Navajo Tribal President Russell Begaye. He said more gaming opportunities in the state means fewer people who feel the need to go to Las Vegas or Laughlin in Nevada.


That benefits not only the tribes but also the state, which has a revenue-sharing agreement with the tribes that now brings in about $100 million a year.

Mesa Mayor John Giles cheered the deal because of what it means to his community.

He said the original 2002 deal included what voters believed was a promise that casinos would be limited to existing reservations.

But that premise was undermined by the fact the Tohono O'odham took advantage of a little-known provision to add land near Glendale to its reservation and construct a casino there. And that raised the question of whether other gaming sites could pop up.


"It settles some uncertainty a lot of the communities have felt in watching the events in Glendale,'' Giles said. "There's some nervousness that we might see casinos unexpectedly appear in other parts of the Valley.''

That same logic applies to the other tribes in the Phoenix area who have fought the Tohono O'odham casino in court and in Congress for years: It allows the Glendale casino — which is competition for gaming dollars — to remain but assures there won't be more.

While not part of the agreement, the deal could eliminate two other obstacles for the Tohono O'odham.

First, it could get the state Department of Liquor Licenses and Control to finally act on the tribe's request for a liquor license at the Glendale site, a request that continues to be delayed. Adams would say only that the agency continues to review the application.

Second, Congressman Trent Franks has had legislation for several years now to undermine the tribe's claim it is entitled to operate a casino on the Glendale property. Adams said while it is "unpredictable'' what Congress might do, he noted that prior efforts by Franks have been unsuccessful.

There was no immediate response from the Tohono O'odham to the proposal, which gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said the tribe has had now for some time.

http://tucson.com/news/local/state-o...dd7e2a671.html

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Their land is on both sides of the border, since before there was a United States.

(From the article.)
the tribe’s reservation is split between the U.S. and Mexico and includes about 75 miles of international border...

Then it will get built on this side on their perimeter or they stop getting Federal Funds. JMO