Arizona lawmakers condemn ICE detention of Diné man in Phoenix area

WINDOW ROCK

Indigenous members of the Arizona House Democratic Caucus on Friday condemned what they described as the unlawful detention of a Navajo man by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

As the man at the center of the incident recounts what happened, he said the encounter left him fearful, traumatized and questioning his safety in his own homeland.

In a statement released Jan. 16, Reps. Brian Garcia of Tempe, Mae Peshlakai of Cameron and Myron Tsosie of Chinle rebuked ICE agents for detaining Peter Yazzie, a Diné, earlier this month while he was in the Phoenix area for work. The lawmakers said Yazzie was carrying valid tribal identification and a birth certificate at the time but was detained anyway.

According to the statement, Yazzie was approached by ICE agents while traveling to work in Peoria, Arizona. Media reports and a viral TikTok video shared by Yazzie prompted widespread concern and scrutiny, leading Indigenous lawmakers to publicly denounce the incident and call attention to what they described as systemic targeting of Native Americans.

“ICE agents continue to show a complete disregard for the rule of law and have absolutely no justifiable reason to go after Indigenous Tribal members,” the lawmakers wrote in their joint statement. “In case they need a history lesson, tribal members are United States citizens.”

They added that Yazzie “should never have been approached” and said that instead of being immediately released with an apology, he was “manhandled, detained and accused of lying and theft.”

Lawmakers condemn detention, call it unlawful

Federal authorities have not publicly released details of the incident. In recent days, Yazzie has shared his account on social media, describing being detained by multiple law enforcement vehicles in Phoenix.

Yazzie said he often sleeps in his vehicle while working in the Phoenix area during the winter months, explaining that the weather allows him to do so as he travels for construction work throughout the year.

“I’m saying that I live out of my ride because, I mean, it’s Phoenix in the wintertime. It’s perfect weather,” Yazzie said. “I do that almost every year. I work in Phoenix throughout the winter, travel in the summer times.”

He said the incident happened early in the morning as he was preparing for work.

“I start work at five, I’m up at four, and I was getting ready, putting on my work shirt, standing outside of my ride,” he said.

Yazzie said several vehicles, including Suburbans, pulled into the area one after another, with only two using lights. At first, he believed law enforcement was conducting a raid unrelated to him.

“They got out and had ‘Police’ written on the back of their vest, so I’m thinking this must be like a drug raid or something,” he said.

Yazzie said officers began yelling commands at him, ordering him to face his vehicle and place his hands on it. He said he complied immediately.

“Where I’m from, you learn that when it comes to the law, you do what you’re told. Otherwise, things escalate,” he said.

He said he watched another man forcibly removed from his truck.

“They pull another guy out of his truck, and they drag him on the ground, like literally dragged him on the ground,” Yazzie said.

Moments later, he said, officers forced him to the pavement.

“They tossed me down, knees on the back, facing the pavement,” he said.

Yazzie said he realized the encounter involved immigration enforcement only after hearing an officer identify himself.

“That’s when I heard him say, ‘immigration control,’” Yazzie said.

He said he immediately told agents that he is Navajo and had identification inside his vehicle, including his wallet, Social Security card, Certificate of Indian Blood and birth certificate.

“I’m full-blooded Native,” he said. “My wallet’s in the car. My ID’s in there. My Social Security card. The backpack in the back seat has my CIB and my birth certificate.”

Despite this, Yazzie said he was placed inside a vehicle while agents searched his car.

“They start pulling off, and I’m like, ‘Why are we leaving? You guys have my identification,’” he said.

Yazzie recounts early-morning stop, detention

Yazzie said agents accused him of stealing both the vehicle and his identity.

“They said that car came back under another name. It’s not listed under the name you gave us, which leads us to believe you stole the vehicle and you stole your identity as well,” he said. “They told me I had 24 hours for my information to come back, otherwise they’d place me with the rest of the deportation detainees.”

He said the threat left him imagining the worst.

“I’m thinking, ‘What the hell? I have a job. I have bills. I have kids,” he said. “And their response was, ‘Oh, we’ll get them next.’”

Yazzie said that at that point he stopped trying to explain himself.

“They’re not listening to me, no matter what I say,” he said.

While detained, Yazzie said he encountered other men who were also picked up while going about their daily lives.

“These were guys who, just like me, left early one morning for work or left to get dinner for their families and never came home,” he said.

He said several men asked him to notify their families if he was released.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a grown man with fear and desperation in his eyes,” Yazzie said. “If that doesn’t move you, then you’re not human.”

Yazzie said he was eventually released without explanation or apology.

“They let me go. Not so much as an apology,” he said.

When he returned to his vehicle, he said it had been ransacked.

“They took everything out, ran through everything,” he said. “I had to fix up my car. I had to call my superintendent, my general foreman, my actual foreman and notify them what happened.”

He said the experience has had a lasting impact on his sense of safety.

“I’m not gonna lie. This is something that has me angry, stressed and worried,” he said. “I gotta look over my shoulder all the time now.”

He said the treatment went beyond racism.

“This is racism, but it’s beyond racism,” Yazzie said. “This is hating someone like they’re a pest or a rodent.”

He compared the experience to being dehumanized in his own homeland.

“You’re treated like a stray dog, like you don’t belong here,” he said. “And not only that, we don’t need to earn a place here. This is where we’re from.”

Yazzie said his family’s roots run deep on this land.

“This is where I was born. My parents were born, my grandparents, great-great-grandparents, all the way down the line,” he said. “We’ve never been nowhere else.”

Encounter changes sense of safety

The Arizona lawmakers echoed those sentiments in their statement, saying ICE’s actions are “making everyone less safe” and accusing Republican-supported immigration policies of violating basic rights and human dignity.

“It has to stop,” the lawmakers said.

In follow-up posts, Yazzie said the attention surrounding his story has brought both support and fear. He said people have offered him places to stay, meals and assistance, but he has remained cautious.

“I feel like I put a large target on my back,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been back in survival mode.”

He said he has changed locations nightly and remains hyper-aware of his surroundings.

“When I’m asleep in my car, I’ll hear a door shut or some kind of fast movement, and I’m just waiting for that knock at the window,” he said.

Despite the trauma, Yazzie said he continues to believe change is possible.

“I still believe we have enough humanity in us to come back from this,” he said. “To turn things around.”

Three members of the Oglala Sioux tribe were detained by ICE, and continue to remain in their custody in Minneapolis, according to their tribal officials.

Federal officials have not publicly commented on the incident. The Arizona lawmakers said they are calling for accountability and greater protections for Indigenous people who they say continue to be wrongfully targeted by immigration enforcement.

Anyone with information related to similar incidents is encouraged to contact civil rights organizations or elected representatives, said lawmakers.

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