TUCSON— This week, the National Park Service closed Quitobaquito Springs in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for the construction of President Trump’s xenophobic border wall. Quitobaquito Springs is home to endangered species, is a source of freshwater in the desert, and a sacred site to various Native American tribes throughout Arizona.

“Quitobaquito is a sacred site for the O’odham people,” said Rep. Grijalva. “Trump has ignored its history with numerous tribes and seeks to desecrate and destroy it to construct his useless wall. I stand with those opposing the border wall and its construction.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Grijalva visited Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and toured Quitobaquito Springs and other sites sacred to the O’odham people at the invitation of the Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman, Ned Norris. As the Trump Administration began using explosives on the sacred site of Monument Hill, Rep. Grijalva held a hearing on the issue in the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples and penned an op-ed in Common Dreams.

“This wall has done nothing more than divide our communities, disrespect our values, and inflict enormous environmental harm,” continued Rep. Grijalva. “It’s time for wall construction to end once and for all.”

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