TECATE, Mexico — White sage burning, Norma Meza Calles gathers guests at a Mexican wellness resort into a semicircle facing Kuuchamaa Mountain and asks everyone to close their eyes and feel its presence.
“This is sacred to us like a church for you all. The mountain is our healer, our psychologist,” said Meza Calles, a Kumeyaay Nation tribal leader who explains that in its creation story a shaman transformed into the mountain. “Here is where we gather strength to live in this difficult world.”
Then she calls for a moment of reflection. But the silence is pierced by the crushing of rock. U.S. federal contractors have been blasting and bulldozing Kuuchamaa, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico frontier, to make way for new sections of border wall.
Indigenous leaders say that in the Trump administration’s rush to build border wall segments, contractors are desecrating Native American sacred places and cultural sites at an unprecedented pace, more than 170 years after the international boundary split the territories of dozens of tribes.
Blasts on sacred mountain
Wall construction has ramped up along the 1,954-mile border even as illegal crossings have plummeted to historic lows. Much of it began this year after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security waived cultural and environmental laws.
In California, explosions on Kuuchamaa, also known as Tecate Peak, send rocks hurtling down its Mexico side.
“We feel that in our DNA,” said Emily Burgueno, a California member of the Kumeyaay Nation, noting that “body” and “land” are the same word in the Kumeyaay language. Some tribal leaders met with Homeland Security officials to urge them to protect Kuuchamaa and are looking into legal action.
“No one ever consented or supported the use of dynamite on the mountain,” Burgueno said.
In Arizona, Homeland Security 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.
Construction crews work April 24 on a new border wall segment near the end of a previously built section on Kuuchamaa Mountain, seen from Tecate, Mexico.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
The Tohono O’odham Nation said it had pointed out the site on its ancestral land for contractors to avoid.
“This was a devastating and entirely avoidable loss,” Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose said in an April 30 statement. “There is nothing more important than our history, which is what makes us who we are as O’odham. The site was also an irreplaceable piece of the United States’ history, one none of us can ever get back.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that a contractor “inadvertently disturbed” the site west of Ajo, Ariz., 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 Assn. 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 wall as fast as possible, the Tohono O’odham Nation said in a statement.
Hundreds of miles under contract
The Trump administration says the barriers are necessary to keep people and drugs from entering the U.S. illegally. It wants walls to cover at least 1,400 miles of the border.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year devoted more than $46 billion to the effort.
CBP has awarded contracts or begun construction on over 600 miles of new border wall, with companion surveillance technology. A double wall is planned or under construction along an additional 370 miles.
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 Homeland Security waivers.
In Sunland Park, on New Mexico’s border with Mexico, crews this year set off blasts on Mt. 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.”
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.
“There are pictographs, paintings of shaman figures and various things that we don’t know how to interpret,” said Skiles, describing the drawings on his family’s ranchlands.
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 says 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. Illegal border crossings have littered, polluted and trampled sensitive habitat, the agency says.
CBP also says 535 miles of remote, rugged border terrain will solely rely on detection technology.
Many tribes would prefer that to walls.
Norma Meza Calles, a Kumeyaay Nation leader, leads a guided tour of traditional Kumeyaay uses for local plants at a wellness center in Tecate, Mexico.
(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Desecrating Native American sites is a felony
Tribes along the border “are all experiencing the same tragic desecration of our cultural and sacred sites,” said Burgueno, chair of the Kumeyaay Diegueño Land Conservancy, a nonprofit organization in California that works to protect Kumeyaay lands. “This is a great example of the federal government not following federal laws.”
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 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.”
Rising 3,885 feet above sea level, Kuuchamaa has also captivated non-Native people.
Sarah Livia Brightwood Szekely said her father, Edmond Szekely, felt the mountain’s healing energy when he arrived in Tecate, Mexico, as a Hungarian Jewish refugee during World War II, and started the renowned wellness resort, Rancho La Puerta, which she now runs.
“There are all of these people that have a deep relationship with the mountain,” she said.
Meza Calles leads walks at Rancho La Puerta to teach guests about Kuuchamaa.
Traditionally, young men would spend 40 days at its base in a coming-of-age ceremony before becoming warriors or shamans, she said. Today’s rituals are shorter. People suffering from a death, debt, divorce or other difficulty seek Kuuchamaa’s healing, she said.
“It’s sad they are ruining the mountain,” she said. “We’ll see how far they go. Destiny is destiny. But the fight is not over.”
Watson and Lee write for the Associated Press and reported from Tecate and Santa Fe, N.M., respectively.
“Designating an area as a bathing water before it is suitable for bathing and without a plan in place to clean it up risks confusing the public, who will rightly believe it is safe to swim there,” a spokesman for Water UK, which represents the water companies, told the BBC.
Claim your free family day pass to English Heritage sites, valid until Sunday, 14 June 2026. Simply cut out your voucher from today’s paper and present it at the site of your choice.
Spring is in full swing at English Heritage sites around the UK, and you can discover them for FREE with this amazing offer in the paper starting from Tuesday.
Using the voucher in the Daily Mirror, you and your family can gain access to spectacular woodland castles, colourful country houses and Victorian gardens in full bloom.
The pass covers up to two adults and three children, or one adult and four children, or two adults. It is valid until Sunday, 14 June 2026, and is inclusive of the bank holiday.
There are hundreds of historic sites across the country just waiting to be discovered and each one has a fascinating story to tell. There is everything from Viking attacks and medieval mayhem to Georgian glamour and Second World War heroics.
So whatever you and your family enjoy – whether it’s a stroll around striking gardens and castles, exploring hidden tunnels or learning about World War II, historic monarchs, and the Viking way of life – you’re bound to find something to keep every member of the family happy and entertained.
And you can make the most of the season with plenty of outdoor space, fun-packed playgrounds and cafes with outdoor seating serving up ice creams, delicious lunches and refreshing drinks.
Whether you explore a Roman fortress, a royal palace or a rambling ruined abbey there’s no better way to seize the season and head out into history with friends and family
How to claim
Cut out the voucher and present it at your chosen English Heritage site by Sunday June 14, 2026, inclusive.
These are just some of the English Heritage sites you could visit
Dover Castle — An English fortress atop the White Cliffs of Dover, where visitors can explore wartime tunnels and a medieval keep
Osborne — The seaside palace of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the Isle of Wight
Pendennis Castle — The Tudor fortress in Falmouth, Cornwall, built by Henry VIII where visitors now find hidden tunnels, sweeping views, and lawns for picnics
Hadrian’s Wall — The historical landmark in Northumberland which was built by the Romans to guard the north-west frontier of their empire
Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden — A medieval fortress turned beautiful garden in Warwickshire
Whitby Abbey — A striking 7th-century gothic monastery sitting in the historic fishing port of Whitby
Walmer House and Gardens — A Tudor fortress turned country house, which has been the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Port for three centuries
Down House — The home of Charles Darwin where he wrote On the Origin of Species, where you’ll find his “outdoor laboratory” and extensive gardens
At these sites, you can make the most of the temperate season with plenty of outdoor space and playgrounds for kids to run around in, as well as in- and outdoor cafés with serving ice creams, lunches and drinks.
Plus, you can get a scone for just £1 when bought with any hot drink in an English Heritage café.
Stonehenge and some other sites are not included in this offer.
U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta, left, is one of three warships reported to have been attacked by Iranian missile and drone Strikes on Thursday. File Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryre Arciaga/U.S. Navy/UPI
May 7 (UPI) — U.S. Central Command said Thursday that American forces struck Iranian military sites responsible for “unprovoked” missile, drone and boat attacks on U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
“U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
CENTCOM said Iran had targeted the USS Truxtun, the USS Rafael Peralta and the USS Mason.
“No assets were struck,” it said.
The U.S. strikes targeted the Bandar Abbas and Qeshm ports near the strait, CBS News and CNN reported, each citing unnamed U.S. officials.
The attacked Iranian facilities included “missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes,” according to CENTCOM.
After the U.S. vessels had transited the strait, President Donald Trump promptly took to social media to post a warning to Iran.
“Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down,” he wrote. “Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave! A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a Normal country. They are led by LUNATICS.”
Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said in a statement carried by Iranian state-owned outlet Press TV that it attacked the U.S. warships in response to an alleged U.S. cease-fire violation as well as a U.S. attack on an Iranian tanker near the Iranian city of Jask.
Iranian forces caused “significant damage” to the U.S. warships, it said.
A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters also said the Iranian strikes were in response to the “aggressive, terrorist and outlaw” U.S. military, Press TV reported.
The attacks come after Trump earlier this week called off Project Freedom, a U.S. military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, as Washington and Tehran try to reach an agreement to end the war.
Despite the attacks, Trump told reporters that the fragile cease-fire that halted the war that began in late February was still intact.
“They trifled with us today. We blew them away,” Trump told reporters Thursday evening.
“If there’s no cease-fire, you’re not going to have to know. You’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.”
