A Tribe Caught in Middle

More than 1,500 immigrants tramp across the Tohono O'odham Nation every day, making it one of the busiest illegal entry points in the country. So far this year, 27,130 people have been arrested in this remote desert, nearly half the number caught in the much more populated San Diego area. At the same time, federal agents have seized a staggering 179,300 pounds of narcotics since October.

The sheer volume of criminal activity and law enforcement response has made some Indians feel they are living in a combat zone.

High-speed chases are so frequent, residents rely on police scanners to know when it's safe to go outside. Burglaries are so common, people leave homes unlocked to keep doors and windows from being broken. Overhead, Black Hawk helicopters hunt drug runners, and on the ground, camouflaged agents prowl the bush.

"Our people fear for their lives," said Vivian Juan-Saunders, tribal chairwoman. "Anywhere else this would be considered a crisis, but there is a double standard because we are Indians."

The reservation, roughly the size of Connecticut, shares a 75-mile border with Mexico that includes 160 illegal crossing points. In 36 spots, there are no barriers at all, officials say. Elsewhere, the most formidable obstacles are three or four strands of rusty barbed wire.

"The Tohono O'odham Nation sits in the busiest corridor of illegal immigration in the nation," said Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame. "They are getting run over. The option is to let it go crazy or bring in the manpower to get it under control."

The Department of Homeland Security announced a $10 million plan last week to help secure Arizona's porous borders, now the main gateway to the U.S. for immigrants and smugglers. The money will fund hundreds of new agents, aerial surveillance drones and additional detention space. The reservation will get another 60 Border Patrol officers.

"The numbers are so striking that it's hard to conceive of unless you see it yourself," said Aurene Martin, Bureau of Indian Affairs deputy assistant secretary who recently visited the reservation. "I think this is one of those situations that has just fallen through the cracks. I don't think there is anything racist about it."