AJO, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity released new video footage and photographs today documenting recent damage from border wall construction to the Las Playas Intaglio, an ancient fish-shaped geoglyph in Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

Contractors scraped a roughly 50-foot-wide swath through the 1,000-year-old figure and surrounding refuge to make way for a second border wall planned by the Trump administration.

“This is the destruction that occurs when the Trump administration strips away our bedrock environmental laws and turns protected public lands into a lawless construction zone,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I was just at the border and saw the damage up close. The intaglio has been scraped apart, a bladed corridor has been cut through it, and heavy machinery is parked nearby. This is an irreplaceable piece of human history that’s been permanently scarred.”

The damage occurred on or about April 23 when construction crews working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection drove heavy equipment through the site, destroying a portion of the intaglio. The formation is a 272-foot-long fish carved into the desert lava field along the U.S.-Mexico Border. It points south from the desert to the Gulf of California, about 45 miles away.

The destruction follows a series of waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in June and November 2025 that set aside dozens of environmental, cultural and public health laws to expedite border wall construction across southern Arizona. Those waivers eliminated protections normally required under laws that include the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The waivers allow construction to proceed without standard review or consultation with other federal or Tribal agencies.

The Las Playas Intaglio is part of a broader cultural landscape recognized as sacred by Native American Tribes. Desert intaglios are rare and irreplaceable cultural features, created by removing dark desert lava to reveal lighter soil beneath.

Conservation groups and Tribal advocates have repeatedly warned that expanded border wall construction — including plans for a second parallel barrier — could cut through sensitive habitat and cultural sites across the region.