Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) wants tribes to cooperate with the enforcement of SB1070, the state's controversial anti-immigration law.

Brewer asked the Arizona Commission of Indian Affairs on May 24 to work with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which will provide guidance on the law. Tribes say they will oppose any effort to make them comply with the law.

"Tribes have jurisdiction within their land, and state law doesn’t apply," John Lewis,the executive director of the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, told The Arizona Capital Times. “And the law just doesn’t work in the interests of the American Indian population.”

The law allows law enforcement officers to ask about a person's immigration status. Some members of Arizona tribes lack birth certificates even though they were born in the U.S. and many do not carry paper documentation of their U.S. citizenship.

Get the Story:
Indian tribes oppose new immigration law (The Arizona Capital Times 6/15)
Tohono O’odham and Inter Tribal Council pass resolutions opposing S.B. 1070 (Indian Country Today 6/15)

Related Stories:
Rihanna moves concert to venue at Pascua Yaqui Tribe casino (6/9)
Boycott of Arizona not affecting Pascua Yaqui casino venue (6/8)
Rodriguez: Arizona is speeding towards an apartheid state (05/31)
Tohono O'odham Nation opposes state anti-immigration law (5/21)
Muscogee Nation weighs stance on Arizona immigration law (5/13)
Editorial: Taking a stance against state's immigration law (5/7)
Arizona tribes worried about state's anti-immigration law (5/3)