The recent arrest and detention of a Navajo Nation citizen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent shockwaves through tribal communities. Navajo leaders have condemned the arrest and called on federal officials to respect tribal sovereignty and their members. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius spoke with Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley.
This interview has been edited for length. Click the audio button below to hear a longer version.
Ryan Heinsius: Following the recent ramp-up of ICE operations in the state, what’s the current mood among tribal members? I imagine some folks are kind of on edge.
Crystalyne Curley: Yeah, there’s a lot of fear right now in our tribal communities, and many of our tribal members that live off the Navajo Nation, so it’s both.
We have a population of over 420,000 tribal members, and not all of them live on the Navajo Nation. We have about, I would say about 50%.
It’s just consistent all the way across of how they have fear, anxiety and just the fear that their family members that are living in metropolitan areas, and even back at home, they’re just afraid that ICE may be coming onto the nation.
RH: The recent detention of a Navajo citizen in the valley has received a lot of attention, obviously, but, to your knowledge, have there been any other instances of tribal members being arrested or questioned by ICE?
CC: Yes. We had several incidences where individuals were approached by ICE, but I know there are some individuals that just want to stay confidential or anonymous at times because they just have that fear—the way they were questioned or even mistreated or just racially profiled.
RH: You’ve described the “mental distress” among tribal members over possibly being caught up in ICE operations. What are the larger effects on the tribe and individual citizens of detainments like this?
CC: We learn about our history, of how our Navajo people survived through relocation, assimilation, genocide and all of these issues, and this type of movement right now of being questioned if we are citizens of this country, you know, it brings a lot of that trauma, so it’s just not mental distress.
It touches back into the historical trauma that our people have, so a lot of that is now resurfacing.
RH: Are there any ways that the resurfacing of these feelings and this historical trauma is manifesting?
CC: Our young children are starting to see that anxiety through their parents or even their relatives that live off Navajo, and just that constant worry, you know, being able to even travel, because many of our people even travel off the Navajo Nation for necessities. You know, we have that type of resistance now, like our elders, afraid to travel to our border towns or visit their families in metropolitan areas, which they normally do, but now you feel that hesitancy.
So, it’s just very unfortunate that our people are feeling like this and being able to trigger that trauma.
RH: Is there any other advice you’re giving Navajo citizens to ensure they’re left out of federal immigration actions?
CC: Carry your government ID, any form of ID, but we’re really trying to encourage state IDs or even passports.
But in instances, we do get inquiries from our Navajo citizens that say, “Well, I only have a CIB,” (certificate of Indian blood) or, “Yeah, can I use that?" And so that’s where the importance of coordination, consultation is important with Homeland Security because we do have to advocate for many of our citizens that just only have a CIB and not an ID or a state-issued ID.
My message to our federal officials and government has been consistent: We’re not going to tolerate harassment of our people or even racial profiling.
We are the first people of this country, long before established governments, long before established borders or walls. You know, our identity and citizenship should not be questioned or challenged.
RH: Well, Speaker Curley, thanks so much for your time today. Really appreciate it.
CC: Thank you very much.
ICE did not respond to KNAU's request for comment on the Jan. 12 arrest and detention on Peter Yazzie near Peoria.
