Navajo Nation leaders are calling on federal immigration authorities to ensure U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers respect and recognize tribal identification during enforcement operations. It follows the arrest and detention of a Navajo citizen last week by ICE officers in Peoria.
Navajo Speaker Crystalyne Curley urged tribal members, especially in urban areas, to carry valid identification like a Real ID and Navajo Nation ID at all times in public places to prevent wrongful detentions.
“Profiling people based on their appearance is unacceptable, and we’re working hard to ensure that our citizens are informed and protected,” said Curley. “Our people should not have to look over their shoulder or endure mental distress and physical aggression at the hands of ICE personnel.”
According to several news reports, ICE officers detained Peter Yazzie on the morning of Jan. 12 while he was stopped at a gas station on his way to work. Yazzie said officers disregarded his statements that he was a Native American. He also said ICE ignored him when he said his ID, social security card and Certificate of Indian Blood were in his wallet, which would have proven his U.S. citizenship. Yazzie told the Arizona Republic he was held for four hours and released without an apology.
“Indigenous people are the first people of this country and hold inherent rights,” Curley said. “Any enforcement action that disregards valid tribal identification places Navajo citizens at risk of wrongful questioning, detention or separation from their families.”
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said his administration has been in contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, following Yazzie’s arrest. He also urged tribal members to remain vigilant and carry ID at all times.
“Our Diné people should not have to live in fear of being stopped, questioned or detained simply because of who they are or how they look,” said Nygren. “Native Americans are not immigrants in our own homelands. We are citizens of the United States and citizens of our sovereign tribal nations, and our rights must be respected.”
Nygren said ICE is not currently operating on the Navajo Nation, but he will notify communities if it changes.
In the wake of Yazzie’s arrest, the Navajo Health Department said it reactivated an initiative designed to assist tribal members who were caught up in widespread sober living home schemes in the Phoenix area.
Officials say Operation Rainbow Bridge has been expanded to respond to possible detentions of Navajo citizens by ICE. The project’s hotline has been reopened for those who have concerns about the impacts of immigration enforcement on Indigenous peoples. The toll-free number is (855) HELPORB or (855) 435-7672. Concerns or tips can also be emailed to info@operationrainbowbridge.com and yolanda.azua@navajo-nsn.gov.
Meanwhile, three Indigenous Arizona lawmakers have condemned Yazzie’s arrest. Democratic Representatives Brian Garcia, Mae Peshlakai and Myron Tsosie say it was unlawful and accuse the federal government of terrorizing communities.
“ICE agents continue to show a complete disregard for the rule of law and have absolutely no justifiable reason to go after Indigenous tribal members,” the representatives wrote in a statement. “In case they need a history lesson, tribal members are United States citizens.”
They also said such arrests violate basic human rights and dignity, stoke civil unrest and must stop.
“Peter Yazzie should never have been approached, but he was,” they wrote. “He was carrying his tribal Identification and his birth certificate and should have been immediately released—with an apology—but he wasn’t. Instead, heavily armed masked agents manhandled him, detained him and accused him of lying and theft. The policy of Republican-supported ICE terrorizing communities is making everyone less safe.”
ICE did not immediately respond to KNAU’s request for comment on Yazzie’s arrest and the officials’ statements in response to the situation.
