The Tohono Oodham Nations tribal leader delivered emotional testimony Wednesday likening construction of President Donald Trump s border wall through Arizonas Indigenous cultural and burial sites to the desecration of Arlington National Cemetery.

These sites are not only sacred to the Nation; they are a part of our shared cultural heritage as United States citizens, Tohono Oodham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.

For us, this is no different from [the Department of Homeland Security] building a 30-foot wall along Arlington Cemetery or through the grounds of the National Cathedral, he said. The federal government owes our government and the governments of local border communities more respect.