The Border Crossed Us: Border Crossing Issues of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Abstract

or many years, the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona has transported tribal members from Mexico to the United States through traditional border crossings for medical treatment. The nation is the only one in the United States that grants full enrollment to its people who are citizens of Mexico. Thus, Mexican citizens who are enrolled members are legally entitled to access health and other services provided by the tribe to all its members. Since the recent militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, these routine visits have become more rare and more dangerous. Frequently now, the tribal employees who provide the transportation for Mexican O'odham Nation members have been stopped and harassed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. These agents, operating on the lands of the O'odham Nation, have made the nation's elders and others who suffer from tuberculosis, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases return to Mexico if they lack U.S. documents. This insistence on official U.S. documentation, rather than recognizing Tohono O'odham Nation memberu ship identification, strikes at the heart of Indian sovereignty and is the 159 focus of this article.