This week, Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation Ned Norris confirmed that Arizona Department of Public Safety law enforcement officials used tear gas and excessive force on peaceful demonstrators protesting the construction of Trump’s border wall at Quitobaquito Springs and other sites sacred to the O’odham people.

American citizens – including members of the Tohono O’odham Nation – were tear gassed by law enforcement near the Border Patrol checkpoint on State Route 85 in southern Arizona.

In mid-July, a group of people gathered for a prayer ceremony at the border between the United States and Mexico in Southern California 50 miles southeast of San Diego. American citizens arrived from the north and Mexican citizens from the south.

National Park Service officials at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument announced a road closure that will block access to Quitobaquito Springs.

O’odham people from both sides of the border met Sunday morning to exchange blessings through an opening in the international boundary that won’t be open much longer.