Opinion: Illegal drug traffickers infiltrate Tohono O'odham Nation

Opinion

Monday, August 16, 2010

"Illegal immigration is not just a problem for ordinary citizens of Arizona. Drug runners from Mexico have also infiltrated the state's indigenous communities. Take one tribe, the Tohono O'odham Nation, which shares a border with Mexico for 63 miles, for example. The stories these Indians could tell about border enforcement is enough to shame the United States, ranging from the drug runners who dart onto the reservation through the porous border separating the two countries to the deportation of Native-Americans, who are mistaken for illegals. Crime and drug smuggling run rampant on Indian reservations, while illegal immigrants flood into the country, break into homes on Indian reservations, and destroy sacred sites.

That border patrol agents sometimes mistake Tohono O'odham Indians for illegal immigrants reveals the extent to which harsh immigration laws can lead to racial profiling. Over a century ago, the Gadsden Purchase erected a border between the United States and Mexico, creating artificial divisions within the Tohono O'odham community, which inhabits vast stretches of land in both countries. Today, about 1,500 Tohono O'odham tribal members reside in Mexico, while nearly 30,000 live on the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation reservation stateside.

Tribal members must produce passports and border identification cards when crossing the border and have complained that the U.S. Border Patrol has detained and deported members of the tribe who could not readily produce the appropriate paperwork.

Yet, Mexican drug cartels have found a relatively easy passage way into Arizona through the Tohono O'odham's Indian reservation. In 2003 alone, more than 100,000 pounds of marijuana, 144 grams of cocaine, and 6,600 grams of cocaine were reportedly seized here. Since then, the drug problem has only gotten worse."

Get the Story:
Susan Bradford: Illegal Alien Drug Runners: A View from the Perspective of Indian Tribes (Smart Girl Politics 8/16)