Politics of the Arizona Borderlands

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The Arizona borderlands are the geographic and cultural region north of the Arizona portion of the US-Mexico border. The area is unique in that it features both an international border and the Tohono O'oham sovereign nation along much of that border. Frequent and persistent topics of interest in the area include the presence of illegal immigration, the confluence of local, state, and national politics surrounding the border, conservation and sustainable living, and the presence of drug traffickers and paramilitary forces in the vicinity.

Contents

Background

Arizona's southern border comprises 24% of the entire United States-Mexico Border and contains six [1] of the state's ten Ports of Entry. [2] These ports are of particular importance, however, because significant drug trafficking occurs via drugs hidden in vehicles. [1] Of particular concern are drug trafficking operations in the area: the area is used heavily by the Sinaloa Cartel for smuggling meth, cocaine, heroin and marijuana across the border in the United States. [1]

Tohono O'Odham Nation

The Gadsden Purchase in 1854 divided the Tohono O'odham Nation into two pieces across an international border. Seventy-five miles of the southern border of the Tohono O'odham Nation's border coincide with the United States-Mexico border, [3] making it the second largest reservation in the United States. The Tohono O'odham people have lived in this region for thousands of years and frequently need to cross the border to visit family members and sacred sites, [4] typically in northwestern Mexico.

The existing US border control in the area already presented an obstacle to members of the tribe, and after the passing of the Arizona Borderlands Protection and Preservation Act, [5] giving the Department of Homeland Security access to federal lands for security activities. This coupled with the Trump administration's plan to establish a wall along the border, [6] has produced more tension in the region. In order for such a wall to be built without the approval of the Tohono O'odham government, the relevant piece of the land would first have to be removed from the Tohono O'odham Nation's trust, which requires a Congressional bill. [4]

The rocky geography and remote location of the border contained within the Tohono O'odham nation make it infeasible for law enforcement officers to effectively patrol the border, [1] though mounting efforts in the area have created a militarized atmosphere that is disturbing to members of the Tohono O'odham tribe. [4]

Immigration

One of the ways most commonly used to enter the country by the poorest immigrants is on foot through the Sonoran Desert. The trek takes upwards of three days [7] and immigrants face a host of issues while making it. Near the border, temperatures rise into the triple digits during the daytime in the summer months and fall to near freezing during the nighttime in the winter months. [8] Average annual precipitation varies along the border but can be as low as three inches, [8] while rainfall during the North American Monsoon season can be surprising and deadly (resulting in the passing of the Stupid Motorist Law, for example).

Immigrants attempting to cross the border frequently die making the trek: in 2013, 800 unidentified bodies of attempted immigrants were being held in Tucson, Arizona awaiting identification. [7] Immigrants also leave feces, abandoned vehicles, and trash: in a three-year period, more than a quarter million pounds of trash were removed from the area. [9]

A humanitarian organization called No More Deaths works to reduce the deaths of migrants crossing through the desert. [10]

Drug Trafficking

Huge desolate areas between the six Ports of Entry [2] found along the Arizona border provide stealthy smuggling routes for large drug operations, using national parks and Indian reservations to push methamphetamine, cocaine, and other drugs across the border. [1] This border provides an easy route to Phoenix and Tucson, which house large-scale organizations responsible for distributing the drugs throughout the U.S. [1] We have seen a steady increase in the amount of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana seized, most notably a 79% in cocaine and a 93% in ice methamphetamine. [11] There has been more than 416,000 kilograms smuggled through the Tohono O'Odham reservation, as the reservation is very open to allow unimpeded travel for residents on the reservation. [11]

The reservations are not the only route they use to push their drugs; Mexican cartels also use tunnels to smuggle drugs into Arizona. [11] The amount of tunnels discovered in Arizona is the most out of all the Southern Border states. Many of these tunnels utilize already created drainage tunnels and irrigation systems. [11] Drug Trafficking Operations also utilize hidden compartments in vehicles to transport drugs across the border. Not only are hidden compartments used, but these operations often create cloned government or commercial vehicles to transport drugs in this region.

Related Research Articles

Smuggling Illegal movement of goods or people

Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.

Tohono Oʼodham Native American people of the Sonoran Desert

The Tohono Oʼodham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The federally recognized tribe is known in the United States as the Tohono Oʼodham Nation.

Illegal drug trade Global black market

The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally and it remains very difficult for local authorities to thwart its popularity.

San Xavier Indian Reservation Indian reservation

The San Xavier Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation located near Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert. The San Xavier Reservation lies in the southwestern part of the Tucson metropolitan area and consists of 111.543 sq mi (288.895 km²) of land area, about 2.5 percent of the Tohono O’odham Nation. It had a 2000 census resident population of 2,053 persons, or 19 percent of the Tohono O’odham population.

Pima people Indigenous tribe in the US and Mexico

The Pima are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States are based in two reservations: the Keli Akimel Oʼodham on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).

The Indigenous peoples of Arizona are the Native American people of the state of Arizona. These include people that have lived in the region since time immemorial; tribes who entered the region centuries ago, such as the Southern Athabascan peoples; and the Pascua Yaqui who settled in Arizona in the early 20th century.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument National monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve in Arizona, United States

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. national monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona that shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the senita and organ pipe cactus grow wild. Along with this species, many other types of cacti and other desert flora native to the Yuma Desert section of the Sonoran Desert region grow in the park. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is 517 sq mi (1,340 km2) in size. In 1976 the monument was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, and in 1977 95% of Organ Pipe Cactus was declared a wilderness area.

Arivaca, Arizona Unincorporated community in Pima County

Arivaca is an unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is located 11 miles (18 km) north of the Mexican border and 35 miles (56 km) northwest of the port of entry at Nogales. The European-American history of the area dates back at least to 1695, although the community was not founded until 1878. Arivaca has the ZIP code 85601. The 85601 ZIP Code Tabulation Area had a population of 909 at the 2000 census.

The O'odham peoples, including the Tohono O'odham, the Pima or Akimel O'odham, and the Hia C-ed O'odham, are indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and northern Sonora, united by a common heritage language, the O'odham language. Today, many O'odham live in the Tohono O'odham Nation, the San Xavier Indian Reservation, the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Ak-Chin Indian Community or off-reservation in one of the cities or towns of Arizona.

Shadow Wolves Unit of Native American trackers for ICE

The "Shadow Wolves" is a unit of Native American trackers. The law enforcement unit is part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Shadow Wolves' primary task is tracking smugglers through a 76-mile (122 km) stretch of the Tohono O'odham Nation territory that runs along the Mexico–United States border in the state of Arizona.

Sasabe, Arizona Populated place in Arizona, United States

Sasabe is a small hamlet in the Altar Valley of southern Pima County, Arizona, United States, immediately north of the international border with Mexico. It hosts a minor border crossing, an adobe sales outlet, a public school, a guest ranch, a general store with fuel pumps, a weekend bar, and a post office serving the ZIP Code of 85633. In 2010, the population of the 85633 ZCTA, including Sasabe, was 54.

Tinajas Altas Mountains Landform in Yuma County, Arizona and Sonora, Mexico

The Tinajas Altas Mountains are an extremely arid northwest-southeast trending mountain range in southern Yuma County, Arizona, approximately 35 mi southeast of Yuma, Arizona. The southern end of the range extends approximately one mile into the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora on the northern perimeter of the Gran Desierto de Altar. The range is about 22 mi in length and about 4 mi wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is unnamed and is 2,766 feet above sea level and is located at 32°16'26"N, 114°02'48"W. Aside from the portion of the range in Mexico, the entirety of the range lies within the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. They lie at the heart of the traditional homeland of the Hia C-eḍ O'odham people.

Sinaloa Cartel Transnational drug-trafficking organization

The Sinaloa Cartel, also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large international drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime syndicate established in Mexico during the late 1980s as one of a various number of "plazas" operating under a predecessor organization known as the Guadalajara Cartel. It is currently headed by Ismael Zambada García and is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, with operations in many world regions but primarily in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua. It also has a notable presence in a number of other regions in Latin America, such as Colombia; as well as in cities across the U.S. The United States Intelligence Community generally considers the Sinaloa Cartel to be the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, making it perhaps even more influential and capable than the infamous Medellín Cartel of Colombia was during its prime. It has repeatedly been said to be one of the strongest criminal organizations in the world and indisputably the most powerful in Mexico since at least the late 2000s and early 2010s by various sources including the Los Angeles Times.

Tohono Oʼodham Nation Indian reservation in United States, Tohono Oodham

The Tohono Oʼodham Nation is the collective government body of the Tohono Oʼodham tribe in the United States. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation governs four separate pieces of land with a combined area of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km2), approximately the size of Connecticut and the second largest Indigenous land holding in the United States. These lands are located within the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona and border the Mexico–United States border for 74 miles (119 km) along its southern border. The Nation is organized into 11 local districts and employs a tripartite system of government. Sells is the Nation's largest community and functions as its capital. The Nation has approximately 34,000 enrolled members, the majority of whom live off of the reservations.

Smuggling tunnel Secret passages used for the smuggling of goods and people

Smuggling tunnels are secret passages used for the smuggling of goods and people. The term is also used where the tunnels are built in response to a siege.

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores Mexican drug trafficker

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, commonly referred to by his criminal alias El Chapo Isidro, is a Mexican drug lord and high-ranking leader of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. He is also the alleged leader of Los Mazatlecos and was right-hand man of the now deceased drug lord Héctor and the incarcerated Alfredo Beltrán Leyva. The FBI is offering a US$5 million bounty.

Etoi Ki is a summit in the Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is west of Kitt Peak National Observatory and northwest of the unincorporated community of Sells. It is rises adjacent to Arizona State Route 86 across the highway from Bird Nest Hill on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, about 62 miles (100 km) west of Tucson and 24 miles (39 km) north of the Mexican border,

South Komelik, Arizona CDP in Pima County, Arizona

South Komelik (O'odham) name translates as "South Flat", is a census-designated place in Pima County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 117 as of the 2020 census. It's located in the southern part of the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation near the border with Mexico.

Maritime drug smuggling into Australia refers to the smuggling of illicit drugs into Australia by sea. While much contemporary Australian media coverage has focused on smaller, more personalised smuggling cases such as the Bali Nine, maritime drug smuggling often allows criminal groups to move illicit drugs and substances into Australia at a much greater scale. This has happened through a variety of ways, including via cargo ship, yacht, and fishing vessels. Key departure locations for drugs aimed to be smuggled into Australia include China, India, Southeast Asia, and the Americas, with much of the drugs trafficked via countries and territories in the South Pacific, in close proximity to Australia.

Several Indigenous peoples who live on the United States–Mexico border have objected to the construction of a border wall on their territories and the militarization of the border by the United States government. The US–Mexico border crosses several Indigenous territories and divides these communities. The barrier erected between the United States and Mexico cuts through and/or affects at least 29 Indigenous tribes, which include Kumeyaay Nation and Tohono O'odham.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-04. Retrieved 2017-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1 2 "Locate a Port of Entry | U.S. Customs and Border Protection". www.cbp.gov. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  3. ↑ Star, Perla Trevizo Arizona Daily. "Beyond The Wall: Border fence cuts Tohono O'odham Nation in half". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  4. 1 2 3 "A 75-mile-wide gap in Trump's wall? A tribe says it won't let it divide its land". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  5. ↑ McCain, John. "Arizona Borderlands Protection and Preservations Act". Congress.gov.
  6. ↑ "Tohono O'odham Nation Tribal Leaders Say Wall With Mexico Will Not Be Built On Their Land". KJZZ. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  7. 1 2 "Arizona: Naming the dead from the desert". BBC News. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  8. 1 2 Data, US Climate. "Climate Yuma – Arizona and Weather averages Yuma". www.usclimatedata.com. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  9. ↑ "Living in No-Man's Land | Cultural Survival". www.culturalsurvival.org. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  10. ↑ Admin (2014-07-13). "About No More Deaths". No More Deaths • No Más Muertes. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  11. 1 2 3 4 https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs40/40381/40381p.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
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