Cactuses Relocated for Border Wall Construction at Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

The US Army Corps of Engineers moved cactuses in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the US-Mexico border near Lukeville, Arizona, for border wall construction on September 19, Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) footage shows.

DVIDS said, “As one team erects barrier panels, another team begins work relocating cacti that lie within the bounds of the barrier team’s path.”

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is an “International Biosphere Reserve,” according to the National Park Service, and is described on the monument’s Facebook page as “an ecorich collection of plants and animals that have adapted to living throughout this surprisingly diverse geological landscape.”

The Washington Post reported that as many as “22 archaeological sites” in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were at risk for damage by border construction, according to a National Park Service report they obtained.

A member of the Hia Ced O’odham tribe has criticized the construction, saying it amounts to “desecration” of sacred land and the tribe’s “ancestral remains,” WTRF reported. Credit: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service via Storyful