Letters | Risk of deportation
Risk of deportation
Editor,
Where have you been you might ask? Well, a lot has happened since I wrote anything.
Some of you know that I am a Republican, but I voted blue during the General Election to help make history by having a woman as president of the United States. It didn’t work out. Of course, there are parties always asking for money donations, even after the election.
Deportation, double-check your Mexican clan. I have relatives who I don’t want to be deported because of this, even in-laws. They are my pride and joy.
What I like to see is NBA players, MLB players, and NFL players who come from overseas to play professional sports here in America who are paid millions of dollars and are not citizens of this country be “hey, hey, goodbye … hey, hey, goodbye ….” People do the wave. The same goes for country singers. If you read about who is being deported, it’s the poor people.
These individuals who are paid millions are not being laid off or getting fired, it’s the poor people who are trying to make a stable living, put food on the table, have an education for their children, their well-being, and a stable home to come home to.
Funds are cut and kids and their parents are becoming homeless. Even Congressman Crank supports this and gets into the three separation of power (three branch government). Impeachment of federal judges?
Yes, there is a whole lot to talk about. Thank you, President Biden, for your wisdom of Leonard.
Steven Kee
Ganado, Ariz.
Hang in there, Mr. President
Editor,
Good day to whoever takes a glimpse of my opinion. I don’t have the luxury of paying radio stations to air my opinion. I voted and win or lose, my vote was counted. I hear how our president is not doing “the job he was voted in for and misspending our dollars. Here’s another side of the coin.
In past years, and decades, I have read about previous presidents traveling here and there to do tribal business in the interest of the Navajo people without any objections until now. I believe all expenditures done by tribal offices/officials are authorized by the tribal government through the yearly budget process and approval. So, if our president has a travel budget to do tribal business away from the reservation it was approved by our Council delegates and other approving authorities (i.e., Budget and Finance Committee, Tribal Council, etc.).
As far as having no evidence of the “green trail of dollars” flowing in to benefit the Navajo people from the outside world as a result of the president’s extensive traveling, I see it everywhere in many forms of assistance to the people. Low rent homes, food stamps, donated food, general monetary assistance, elderly care, Work Force Development, PEP, hospital and health care services, transportation by the transit system for those who need it, premium life insurance, and health insurance coverage for our dedicated tribal workers that oversee and protect our tribal resources, provide services to the people in many forms, protect our sovereign rights, enforce law and order, secure and protect what is rightfully ours based on just who we are as “Diné” and what our “land provides.”
All these that some of us benefit from is not a “given guaranteed” give me or to have options, they come because of the lobbying and advocating our leaders and officials do with and from the “powers that have the dollars to decide how to spend or allocate them” at the local, state, and federal Wááshindoon level.
Frightfully what will become of some of these benefits when they stop because of all that is currently going on at the Washington level in the form of cutting and trimming the federal budget. More so, we will have to rely on those who we’ve elected as our leaders at the local, state, and national levels – those who have the time, competence, commitment, and energy to build strong relationships and understand the complexities of government make up with “a forward-thinking” and work constructively to continue collective services to our Nation and have open communication to all those they encounter and serve – lobby and advocate on the Nation’s behalf. So, we can’t be unsure of who should be our leader in the midst of this turmoil. Hopefully, this is a wake-up call of those who never vote.
Yes, we have what is called “The Old Draw-String Money Pouch” (established by our great late President Zah, former delegates Ben and Ralph Bennett, W. Stewart) that our tribal Council keeps getting in to supplement what the tribal government falls short on to serve the people and communities. So, I think it’s wrong when someone airs over the radio land that the president is dipping into these funds to fund his extravagant spending. Remember, our tribal Council has to vote on this before it can be used. It’s not outright open to elected officials or to “sticky hands.”
Aside from this, I’m elderly and I witnessed as a child when our parents and elderly traveled days in advance to attend tribal meetings on foot, wagons, horses, etc., to be present, and as time progressed, they were promised (as well as our generations) better roads (gravel/paved), electricity, construction of sewer lines and waterlines piped into our homes, etc., etc. Sadly, my parents didn’t see the reality of these promises, election after election, until just recently.
Thanks to President Trump who finally realized that a lot of us in the U.S. didn’t have running water with bathroom facilities in our homes and got the ARPA born. Sad to say, our tribal government is still trying to figure out how to make the best use of these dollars for the greater good of the Navajo people. Until we’re all old, we finally have inside bathrooms but still have the task of hauling water to enjoy this because waterlines can’t be extended to our areas – what some of you take for granted.
Under President Nygren there are continuing projects that include extending waterlines, sewer lines, powerlines, additional construction of towers for communication in isolated areas, improving roads for a select few (which I’m not satisfied with within our area), housing, health facilities, and other community facilities, and really that has never occurred by other presidents as they (I think we’re in their own little world) concentrated mostly on the communities where they came from.
For this, I am grateful to all those who make it possible: President Nygren, our tribal Council (notably Council Delegate Dr. Nez, who represents my area), and tribal and government entities/programs who serve us – there is progress. You notice it if you live out in the “boonies.” You don’t see it as much if you live in clustered communities where you take “basic life essentials for granted.”
So, hang in there, Mr. President, and thank you to all those who push “teamwork” with whatever is in your “goals and mission” for the entities you work for/with to continue working for us – NECA, NTUA, IHS, tribal and government offices, and teachers/schools who educate our children, etc. No one may thank you daily, but we do appreciate all you try or can do. Thank you.
Celia Yazzie
Navajo, N.M.
Tired of being a victim
Editor,
My name is Sarafina and I am Diné. I am of the ‘Áshįįhí (Salt People Clan), born for Nát’oh dine’e (Tobacco People Clan). I write this letter with a heavy heart, a cry for help.
I am currently incarcerated at Coconino County Jail in Flagstaff, awaiting a bed date for inpatient treatment. I was sentenced on Feb. 14, 2025. Since then, I’ve been sitting in jail waiting for a bed date. There are many of us women doing time with no one to advocate or defend us rightfully. We are victims of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, sexual assaults, domestic violence, sex trafficking, and addictions.
Many of us have fallen prey to this vicious cycle of addiction, genocide, relocation, assimilation, discrimination, and the list goes on. We are tired of being dehumanized.
Most of us came to border towns, the city for education and a better job, yet we have lost our ways or have been misguided or no guidance, but we have not given up.
Slowly we are being stripped of our culture, decolonized, and are being asked to relocate away from our sacred mountains, our home knowing that home (Navajo Reservation) is nearby. It keeps us resilient and continues to fight our daily struggles with our addictions, poverty, and mental illness. Homelessness is another major concern.
My intention in this letter is to bring awareness to our tribal leaders and not to find anyone at fault or to point fingers. In order to co-exist, collaboration needs to form to identify these issues.
Our local resources, public defenders, health care workers, and social workers are overloaded with cases and we become victims and the cycle continues.
We are mothers and we are tired of being victims of sexual assaults, rape, domestic violence, discrimination, and neglect. We are speaking out and would like to be heard. We are victims of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and we want justice. Respectfully seeking guidance and healing.
My sister, Nicole Joe, was murdered on Christmas Day in 2017 in Flagstaff. Marley Shebala covered the story. We are still victims.
Sarafina Joe
Flagstaff, Ariz.
For the non-Natives
Editor,
During the Covid lockdown, I was watching a documentary on PBS. I was surprised to learn that thousands of Indigenous women are missing in both the United States and Canada. This is a real-world crisis that is never mentioned on the six o’clock news.
The library was closed, so I had no access to their computers. I did research on my phone. I was surprised to learn that Indigenous women have gone missing for years.
During my research, I got the idea for a book. I learned about a reservation in northeastern Montana called Fort Peck Indian Reservation. That became my setting for the book.
To make a long story short, I have had a book published, and it is titled The Odyssey of Amanda Iron Bear. It is about a contemporary 17-year-old Indigenous girl who is kidnapped by human traffickers.
This is not an attempt to sell the book to you. Instead, I have written the book for non-indigenous people who have no idea about this crisis.
Wayne Adams
Melissa, Texas
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow