Lochiel, AZ – In the early hours of October 5, Border Patrol agents raided the anti-border camp called “Tierra Libre” on the U.S.-Mexico Border near Lochiel, Arizona. An estimated 200 Border Patrol Agents invaded camp — entering the tracts of private property along the border that had long-shielded land defenders from the authority of the federal agents — and cut down the ancient Grandmother tree that campers had attempted to protect. Less than 24 hours later, land defenders established a new treesit in the immediate path of construction, this time on the Mexican side of the border. 

Although Border Patrol agents were parked along the easement throughout the night, a masked land defender snuck past them and scrambled up into the 50-foot-tall Grandmother tree and into the platform already built there. “This brave warrior climbed right up there,” said Pablo, a land defender who was at camp Tuesday morning. “The new treesit is very much blocking construction, as long as someone is in that tree they will not be able to build their wall.”

Past Coverage: Treesit Blocks US-Mexico Border Wall Construction for Six Weeks in Arizona

According to multiple sources on the ground who spoke with Unicorn Riot, Border Patrol agents entered private property Monday morning, refusing to show evidence of a warrant allowing them to do so, and refusing to explain what authority granted them that right.

Agents shoved and tackled campers, pointed guns at them, stomped on their necks, and pushed several campers into the barbed wire fence that marks the private property line. One land defender who goes by the name Hoops showed wounds on her hands and wrist to members of the media that she said resulted from agents twice her size tackling her into the barbed wire fence. 

“Border Patrol has been coming onto private property since yesterday morning,” said Rachel, a land defender who spoke with Unicorn Riot about the raids. “No warrants are shown, as far as we can tell there’s no legal ground for them to come onto private property. It seems like they’re pushing through the construction process quickly and will deal with the law later.” 

Construction workers protected by Border Patrol agents used a cherrypicker to cut branches off of the 200-year-old cottonwood Grandmother tree, in which a treesit had been sustained for 71 days. Agents then removed a treesitter stationed to protect the tree from border wall construction.

Within minutes, the Grandmother tree was felled and the treesit destroyed. Ten land defenders were arrested, including the treesitter. Ten more were cited and released. 

“The Grandmothers live inside us now,” said an anonymous land defender who spoke on behalf of those at camp. “We make this promise: this wall will not be built! We will tear down what has already severed the land and our peoples, piece by piece.” 

Land defenders established the new treesit in the tall cottonwood tree that land defenders had briefly occupied in August, early on in the campaign. Facing pressure from Border Patrol and Mexican State Police, the treesit had been vacated. It remained unoccupied for over six weeks – until today. 

Shortly after the treesit was reoccupied Tuesday morning, Border Patrol responded in force, confronting land defenders and attempting to push them back off the easement road that runs along the border.

In the midst of that confrontation, at least five protesters were arrested and taken into custody and five more were charged and released. The situation is actively developing. 

“We stand strong and will not be deterred by state violence or intimidation,” said an unnamed spokesperson for Tierra Libre in a press release emailed to media. “We call on all people of ceremony, all people of conscience, to come join us now in La Noria and Lochiel, to protect the land, to protect the sacred.”

The raids came just a week after notices posted near the camp announced that the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management had issued a new order, restricting “all forms of access and entry” to the designated areas and making it illegal for civilians to enter areas owned by those federal agencies adjacent to the border wall.

The order was effective as of September 29 and remains in effect until January 20, 2029. The restricted areas include the entire Roosevelt Reservation in the Tucson sector, the 60-foot-wide stretch of land that runs along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. 

The order also deputizes Border Patrol to make arrests enforcing the order.

Camp, however, is on private property, not on federally managed land. Land defenders have permission to use the land, and have been in friendly negotiations for months with the families who have owned these parcels of land for generations. 

“If they can come onto private property here, they can come onto private property anywhere,” said Rachel. “If we’re not safe here, if masked federal agents can act with impunity here, then no one is safe anywhere in this country.” 

One family member, Belicia Lynch, expressed her solidarity with the land defenders in the midst of the raid on her family’s property. “As a De La Ossa family member, I just want to thank you guys for being out there to not only protect the Grandmother tree, but the land itself that many animals and bugs inhabit,” she said in a message on Signal, a private messaging app. 

“No matter what has happened today, they can’t erase the history you all have created and contributed to. Whatever propaganda they decide to spew will not compare to the coverage that you have witnessed firsthand and showcased to the world. Continue to spread truth and fight for what you believe in no matter the outcome.”

Cover image by Niko Georgiades for Unicorn Riot with images from Sonoran Desert Press Office.

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Sept. 14, 2026: Three Arrested and Charged for Disrupting Border Wall Construction

Sept. 10, 2026: Treesit Blocks US-Mexico Border Wall Construction for Six Weeks in Arizona

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