At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement and asked to produce proof of citizenship during immigration raids since Wednesday, according to Navajo Nation officials.
The reports, which have caused panic amongst tribal communities in both states, come amid the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up undocumented immigrant arrests nationwide and amass a larger force to carry out the president’s deportation pledge. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The reported raids and the exact number of Diné/Navajo and other Indigenous tribal citizens who were apprehended are still under investigation, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley told CNN. It is unclear if Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other law enforcement entities were conducting the apprehensions. ICE has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Navajo Nation officials have contacted the Department of Homeland Security, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico, and ICE to address the reports, the Office of Navajo President Buu Nygren said in a news release Friday.
“My office has received multiple reports from Navajo citizens that they have had negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants in the Southwest,” Nygren said in the release.
Justin Ahasteen, executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, said his office has not confirmed any reports of ICE action against Navajo citizens.
According to Ahasteen, one tribal member was involved in a raid in Phoenix. Ahasteen told CNN the incident was a “wrong place, wrong time” situation and the tribal member, who presented their tribal identification and was questioned while in custody, was not the intended target.
The person was released, Ahasteen said.
CNN has also contacted New Mexico State Police, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and the Navajo Nation Police Department for comment.
Arizona state Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, who is Diné/Navajo, told CNN she received a report from the family of a Navajo woman who said she was questioned by ICE and asked to show proof that she was Native after her workplace was raided Wednesday morning.
The woman says she was at her work site in Scottsdale, Arizona, when she and seven other Indigenous citizens were lined up behind white vans and questioned for two hours without their cell phones or a way to contact their families, according to Hatathlie.
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The reports, which have caused panic amongst tribal communities in both states, come amid the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up undocumented immigrant arrests nationwide and amass a larger force to carry out the president’s deportation pledge. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The reported raids and the exact number of Diné/Navajo and other Indigenous tribal citizens who were apprehended are still under investigation, Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley told CNN. It is unclear if Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other law enforcement entities were conducting the apprehensions. ICE has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Navajo Nation officials have contacted the Department of Homeland Security, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico, and ICE to address the reports, the Office of Navajo President Buu Nygren said in a news release Friday.
“My office has received multiple reports from Navajo citizens that they have had negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants in the Southwest,” Nygren said in the release.
Justin Ahasteen, executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, said his office has not confirmed any reports of ICE action against Navajo citizens.
According to Ahasteen, one tribal member was involved in a raid in Phoenix. Ahasteen told CNN the incident was a “wrong place, wrong time” situation and the tribal member, who presented their tribal identification and was questioned while in custody, was not the intended target.
The person was released, Ahasteen said.
CNN has also contacted New Mexico State Police, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and the Navajo Nation Police Department for comment.
Arizona state Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, who is Diné/Navajo, told CNN she received a report from the family of a Navajo woman who said she was questioned by ICE and asked to show proof that she was Native after her workplace was raided Wednesday morning.
The woman says she was at her work site in Scottsdale, Arizona, when she and seven other Indigenous citizens were lined up behind white vans and questioned for two hours without their cell phones or a way to contact their families, according to Hatathlie.
Navajo Nation leaders raise alarm over reports of Indigenous people being questioned and detained during immigration sweeps
At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement and asked to produce proof of citizenship during immigration raids since Wednesday, according to Navajo Nation officials.
