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Indigenous
Peoples on the Border
Indigenous peoples who have been on the North American continent much
longer than Mexico, the United States of America and Canada are adversely
affected by these countries’ international boundaries.
The Jay Treaty
and the Treaty of Ghent protect the right of tribes whose lands are
bisected by U.S.-Canadian border to cross between the two countries. The
same protection was not explicitly guaranteed to tribes divided by the
U.S.-Mexican border. The
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo separated the Kumeyaay Indians of California
from the Kumiai of Baja California. The Gadsden Purchase separated Tohono
O'odham and other tribes in Arizona from their relatives in Sonora,
Mexico.
For many years, indigenous peoples crossed easily between Mexico and
the United States, because they were known to border agents and
secured inexpensive border crossing cards. Growing restrictions on
immigration to the United States over the last decades have made it more
difficult for tribes to maintain cross-border ties. Immigration and customs agents often question the
border crossings of tribal members, who may lack the documents and
finances necessary for passports and visas.
The Texas Band of Kickapoo Act of 1983
was passed to allow the Kickapoo to cross freely between Texas and Mexico,
where they reside. In recent years, the Tohono O’odham, the Cocopah, and
the Yaqui people and the Kumeyaay in California have lobbied to secure
their rights to travel across their ancestral lands.
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