Late last month, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe began issuing its new Enhanced Tribal Card (ETC) to its members, according to a press release jointly issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the tribe.
The ETC, which includes security features and radio frequency identification technology, was designed to be a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)-compliant document. It formally recognizes tribal membership and U.S. citizenship for the purpose of entering the United States through a land or sea port of entry.
WHTI is a joint initiative between DHS and the Department of State. It implements a key 9/11 Commission recommendation and Congressional mandate to establish document requirements for travelers entering the United States who were previously exempt, including citizens of the United States and Canada. WHTI requires all U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 16 and older to present a valid, acceptable travel document that denotes both identity and citizenship when entering the United States by land or sea.
The tribe, located approximately 60 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, has more than 17,000 members, many of whom have relatives residing on both sides of the border. Both the tribe and its Yaqui cousins in Mexico regularly visit each other for religious, cultural and tribal purposes.
The Pascua Yaqui became the first tribe in Arizona to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for the development of an ETC in May 2009. Since then, CBP has signed similar agreements with the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the Seneca of New York, the Tohono O'odham of Arizona and the Coquille of Oregon to develop WHTI-compliant ETCs. CBP is also currently working with about 15 other tribes across the country on the ETC initiative.
I think this is just another way for Feds to create new problems for the first Americans, everyone else is an immigrant on this land of USA. Why should we have to prove to anyone that we have rights here where as those who moved here from other places including European's, they should also have to be included in the illegal immigrant provision. The First Americans should not have to provide to no one, repeat to no one to prove that they are the citizens of USA. We first occupied this land prior to Christopher Columbus so called making this discovery. I feel the Pascua Yaqui should not have bowed down with CBP because they are entitled to be here on this planet. I feel any of the native tribes that want to be first to sign an agreement is making the mistake for every other Indian Tribe that exist here in US.
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